Meeting the Past-Reading Harry Potter the Deathly Hallows
by anincandescentwriter
Summary: During the 6th book, Harry and his friends get transported back in time right. They find themselves in the Great Hall with a book to read called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Voldemort is giving Harry Potter a chance to find out how this whole battle ends. AU with ages but other than that I am trying to keep it as close to the books as possible. *Used to be Matdancer9*
1. Chapter 1

**All right everyone. I am new to this site. I have been wanting to do something like this for awhile. I have been enjoying reading where the characters get to read the story but they never seem to be finished or if they are they are all the first books. So I have decided to start with the last book in Harry Potter. And it is just slightly AU with the ages of the past students, if that makes sense.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J. does. **

"NO!" screamed Harry. He had just seen Severus Snape kill Dumbledore, Harry's mentor. Dumbledore's freezing spell on Harry broke and Harry ran out of the tower. Hogwarts was under attack from Death Eaters. Harry and Dumbledore left for one night, to go look for the Horcruxes, to kill Voldemort. And it was all for nothing! All they got was a fake Horcrux from some person named R.A.B. It was all pointless. And now Dumbledore was dead Harry thought bitterly. As he ran through Hogwarts looking for Ron and Hermione, he shot spell after spell at Death Eaters. Finally, Harry made his way onto the grounds. There he saw them, his friends, Ron and Hermione. Harry ran up to them with tears in his eyes.

"Oh no. What happened to you Harry?" Hermione said like a mother hen while shooting a stunning spell.

"Where the bloody hell have you been? We have been looking for you all over." Ron cursed at him. Were they really having this conversation in the middle of a battle?

"Look, I'll tell you what happened later. But you need to know that…" Harry began but then Hermione screamed.

"Harry, dementors. Coming behind you!"

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry shouted but before the stag could leap out of his wand, a flash of bright light appeared and Harry, Ron, and Hermione disappeared.

Meanwhile in 1976, James, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter were enjoying dinner in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. James was asking Lilly Evans out once again, and Lily was again rejecting James. Severus Snape sat at the Slytherin table, smirking at James being snubbed again. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at the teachers table in the headmasters seat. All was well, even with the threat of Voldemort out there. The students knew that nothing could harm them while they were in Hogwarts.

"Hey Evans, watch this." James called as he balanced a spoon on his nose. Lily shook her head and muttered "What an idiot." under her breath. Dumbledore rose to speak, as it was Halloween and it was tradition before the feast began.

"Well, it is once again Halloween. Enjoy the feast. Don't put pumpkins on your heads. Have fun." were Dumbledores words. But as the food appeared, a bright flash of light appeared. Several students covered their eyes and looked away. Some students screamed. Dumbledore appeared calm and waited for the light to disappear. Once the students eyes readjusted, they realized they were joined by three more people, strangers.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione felt themselves blinded by the light and were spinning in the air. When the light and dizziness went away, they found themselves in the Great Hall. Harry patronus never had a chance to leave before the light appeared and now it burst from the wand and raced around the Hall. Several students awed at it. Sirius nudged James, and told him it was a stag, James' animagus form.

"Harry what are we doing here, in the Great Hall?" Hermione squeaked out. Harry was busy thinking. They were in the middle of a battle, why would the Great Hall be filled with students eating not battling? As only those who spend so much time together do, they immediately went back to back, forming a small circle, with wands out ready to attack if possible.

"Harry what was it that you wanted to tell us before, that was so important?" Ron said in a quiet voice. At this, Harry filled with anger.

"Dumbledore, I saw him, I saw him kill Dumbledore!" Harry spat out.

"OH NO! Dumbledore can't be dead!" Hermione shrieked a little too loudly. Everyone in the Hall gasped at this. Before there were whispers of who the people were, but now there was nothing, everyone was leaning in to hear what the trio was saying.

"Harry, are you sure he is dead?"Ron said in a small voice.

"Of course I am sure. I saw it HAPPEN!" Harry yelled.

"Harry, Hermione, you need to see this then." Ron said fearfully and Harry and Hermione turned to see what Ron was staring at. And in front of them was Albus Dumbledore, very much alive.

"What is going on? James, do you know these people? The dark haired boy, he looks like you." Remus Lupin asked.

"No, I don't know them. I have never seen these people before. Maybe the boy is a distant cousin I haven't heard of before? Possibly." James said in a quiet voice. Everyone was staring in shock. What had the girl meant? How could Dumbledore be dead when he was sitting right in front of everyone. And how had the dark haired boy seen it happen? James, Sirius, and Remus were all confused as to what was happening. Lily Evans, for some reason she did not know, was hoping that the dark haired boy would be all right, even though he looks like the good for nothing James Potter. She leaned over to speak to her friend, Molly.

"Do you know them? The red head sort of looks like you, possibly." Molly stared. What was going on? Nobody seemed to know. Even Dumbledore didn't know completely.

"Who are you?" Dumbledore spoke in that reassuring voice of his.

"Don't answer him. It could be an illusion put up by Voldemort." The bushy brown haired girl said. Voldemort? These children, who looked around their age, were dealing with Voldemort. Why would they do that? They should be at Hogwarts, learning with the rest of them Lily thought. And that was when the dark haired boy clutched his head and grimaced in pain.

A cold feeling came over the Great Hall, not unlike the dementors feeling.

"Potter, Granger, Weasley. You have lost. You will all die. You will no longer exist. The boy-who-lived will die along with his faithful friends. You will never know your parents Potter. You will not see them again. But I am not entirely heartless. You should get to see your end and what better way to learn of your death than with your parents. Don't fear Hogwarts. I will not harm you, not now at least. Just read of the boy's death and you will be spared." A cold voice hissed. It made everyone want to cringe and crawl under the tables. The trio at the top didn't move and didn't look bothered by that. James Potter was looking shaken, his name was mentioned. Arthur Weasley was not moving either, as his name was also mentioned.

Everyone in the Great Hall was panicking and screaming. Several people ran to the door but couldn't open it. It seems it had been locked in the commotion.

"QUIET" Dumbledore roared. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to Dumbledore. "I want to you all to sit back at your House tables. Stop panicking. Everything will be all right. As for you three," and he glanced at the trio who was still standing back to back, "Who are you?" Everyone held their breath, waiting for their answer. It was taking them an awful long time when finally the bushy haired girl exclaimed, "I've got it! Professor Dumbledore, sir. I believe that Voldemort has taken us from our time and put us your time. I think we are from the future to you and to us we are in the past!"

"Hmm. That seems to be the answer. Why is Voldemort going after you guys?"

"Could we please just keep that to ourselves? We will tell you our names but we just want to get back to our time. Hogwarts is under attack and we need to be there. I believe that Voldemort has the information wrong. We can't just be dead. We haven't died yet and if we do die in that book, then we need to go back and change that!" the girl said. Murmurs broke out. Hogwarts was under attack? That isn't possible. Hogwarts is the safest place in the world.

"I suppose that will be alright. There might be questions after the reading is over. Ok, get on with telling us who you are."

"My name is Hermione Granger. I am muggle born." The brown haired girl said.

"My name is Ron Weasley." The red head said.

"My name is Harry Potter." Said the last boy, with black, messy hair.

**So, just tell me what you think, you know, if anyone does read this. I know it is short, it is just an introduction. That is it for now. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone. Thanks so much for the few reviews I got. I honestly wasn't expecting anything and it made me really happy. I also need to apologize for taking so long on updating. It was a crazy couple of weeks at school and I have had some personal stuff going on. But here is the second chapter. Oh, and if you didn't see before, reminder, it is AU for ages with Molly, Arthur, and a couple of other people. You'll probably have to use your imagination for ages when reading the book. Sorry about that.  
**

Meeting the Past-Chapter 2

After the introductions there was a collective gasp. James Potter was uncomfortable. He was going to have a kid? That was the most reasonable answer. Unless there was another Potter he didn't know about. James didn't even know if he wanted to have children. Who was the mother? Similar feelings were going through Arthur Weasley.

Lupin leaned over and asked James if he had family he didn't know about.

"Well, I wouldn't know would I?" was James' retort. Finally, James Potter couldn't take it anymore. He had to know.

"Harry Potter, who are your parents?" yelled James. Harry turned and stared straight at his father. He shared an uneasy glance with Ron, who was in the same situation. Harry returned his eyes back to James.

"I'd rather not say at the moment. I am pretty sure it will come up in the book." Harry said curtly. "Actually, let's get this reading thing done with. I want to get back to our time." Dumbledore nodded at Harry and agreed.

"Okay, I'll read first." said Dumbledore.

_Chapter One: The Dark Lord Ascending_

_The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction._

"_News?" asked the taller of the two. _

"_The best," replied Severus Snape._

At the name, there was an uproar. Everyone save the Slytherins moved a little away from Snape. James Potter, however, was feeling smug.

"I have been telling you all he is a slimy, greasy haired git!" he yelled out loud. Lily looked at Severus Snape with tearful eyes. Even though she hasn't talked to him since the end of fifth year, and it was now sixth year, she still felt betrayed. Her eyes were pleading with Snapes, saying how could you? Snape said nothing. His future was already decided.

Harry however, was ready to get up in a murderous rage. Just as he was about to stand, Hermione pulled him back down.

"Harry, no you can't! Nobody knows what happened. Heck, even Ron and I don't know what happened. Give it time." Reprimanded by Hermione, Harry sat back down, and glared at Snape.

_The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low-growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched. _

"_Thought I might be late," said Yaxley, his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of overhanging trees broke in the moonlight. "It was a little trickier than I expected. But I hope he will be satisfied. You sound confident that your reception will be good?"_

_Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring the men's way. Neither of them broke step: In silence both raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke. _

Snape looked down at his left arm, disturbed. He had been thinking for awhile now to go to Voldemort. He wanted this, he wanted to be on Voldemort's side. There was nothing left for him here, not if Lily didn't want anything to do with him.

_The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men's footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their right: Yaxley drew his waned again, pointing it over his companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge. _

"_He always did himself well, Lucius. _Peacocks_…" Yaxley thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort. _

McGonagall and Dumbledore paled at the name. It was most likely Lucius Malfoy, a boy who graduated Hogwarts only a few years prior. How could he do this?

_A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. Gravel crackled beneath their feet as Snape and Yaxley sped toward the door, which swung inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly opened it. _

_The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode past. The two men halted at a heavy wooden door leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle. _

_The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table. The room's usual furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls. Illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a glided mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a moment of the threshold. As their eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light, they were drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope, and reflected in the mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below._

Lily looked upset about this. James wanted nothing more than to go comfort her, but even he knew limits and did not want to further give her grief. Instead, he had to watch Molly give her a hug.

_None of the people seated underneath this singular sight was looking at it except for a pale young man sitting almost directly below it. He seemed unable to prevent himself from glancing upward every minute or so. _

"_Yaxley. Snape," said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. "You are very nearly late."_

_The speaker was seated directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new arrivals to make out more than his silhouette. As they drew nearer, however, his face shone through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow._

At the description, Harry shuddered. It reminded him of the night in the graveyard. Ron and Hermione noticed and moved closer. So far, nobody has paid much attention to them since they began reading the book, but Harry had a feeling it was about to change. Soon.

"_Severus, here," said Voldemort, indicating the seat on his immediate right. "Yaxley—beside Dolohov." _

"You're his right hand man!?" Sirus shouted out. Snape looked disturbed at the thought. What could I have done to deserve that rank Snape thought.

_The two men took their allotted places. Most of the eyes around the table followed Snape, and it was to him that Voldemort spoke first. _

"_So?"_

"_My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday next, at nightfall." _

At this, there was a sharp intake of breath from Dumbledore. What did this Harry Potter do to deserve special attention from Voldemort?

James and Lily looked up at the trio who sat at their own tiny table. The dark haired boy was staring straight ahead, as if he was used to hearing about the darkest wizard of their time obsessed with him.

"Who do you think he is?" Wormtail asked James. Lupin answered for him.

"No idea. The boy could possibly be James' son." It was still a weird thought for James. He didn't really want to consider it.

"_The interest around the table sharpened palpably: Some stiffened, others fidgeted, all gazing at Snape and Voldemort. _

"_Saturday…at nightfall," repeated Voldemort. His red eyes fastened upon Snape's black ones with such intensity that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves would be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Voldemort's face and, after a moment or two, Voldemort's lipless mouth curved into something like a smile. _

The Gryfindor joker, Sirius, had to say, "That must of _not _looked pretty." Grateful for some comic relief, the hall broke out into nervous laughter.

"_Good. Very good. And this information comes—"_

"—_From the source we discussed," said Snape. _

"_My Lord." _

_Yaxley had leaned forward to look down the long table at Voldemort and Snape. All faces turned to him. _

"_My Lord, I have heard differently." _

The Slytherins have heard of Yaxley. He graduated with Lucius Malfoy and was known for wanting to please. This was not going to go well for him.

_Yaxley waited, but Voldemort did not speak, so he went on. _

"_Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen." _

_Snape was smiling._

"_My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm had been place upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible." _

"_I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain," said Yaxley. _

"_If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain," said Snape. "I assure _you_, Yaxley, the Auror Office will play no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the Ministry."_

Whispers broke out in the Great Hall. The students knew of the war going on but never in their wildest dreams did they think the Ministry was going to be infiltrated. It was just not going to happen.

"_The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" said a squat man sitting a short distance from Yaxley; he gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there along the table. _

Lily and Molly glanced at each other.

"This isn't good." Molly said to Lily. Lily nodded her head in agreement. Her mind was whirling, trying to figure out what was going on. She concluded that the war in the future was much worse, but she couldn't figure out how long it had been going on. And the boy, Harry Potter, was the key to everything. She couldn't shake it, but she felt the strangest thing toward him. She wanted to protect Harry from harm. She doesn't want him to get hurt and Lily doesn't know why. **Come on Lily. You have never even met this person before. Just forget the feeling. Focus on the story.**

_Voldemort did not laugh. His gaze had wandered upward to the body revolving overhead, and he seemed to be lost in thought. _

"_My Lord,: Yaxley went on, "Dawlish believes an entire part of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy—"_

_Voldemort held up a large white hand, an d Yaxley subsided at once, watching resentfully as Voldemort turned back to Snape._

"_Where are they going to hide the boy next?"_

The trio was getting tenser as the chapter went on.

"Creepy how they have meetings about you, mate." Ron tried to release it but he was no Fred and George.

"_At the home of one of the Order," said Snape. "The place, according to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest."_

"_Well, Yaxley?" Voldemort called down the table, the firelight glinting strangely in his red eyes. "__**Will**__ the ministry have fallen by next Saturday?"_

_Once again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his shoulders. _

"_My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have-succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse." _

"Ha!" called out Sirius. "He won't accomplish anything. Thicknesse is as thick as his name is."

_Many of those sitting around Yaxley looked impressed; his neighbor, Dolohov, a man with a long, twisted face, clapped him on the back. _

"_It is a star," said Voldemort. "But Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."_

"Let's hope he fails then." Lupin muttered to his three best friends. He could act this way around them. They know everything, including his wolf problem. No one else knows and Lupin trusts his friends not to tell.

"_Yes- my Lord, that is true- but you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down." _

"_As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest," said Voldemort. "At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done while he travels." _

"_We are at an advantage there, my Lord," said Yaxley, who seemed determined to receive some portion of approval. "We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Apparates or used the Floo Network, we shall know immediately." _

"Whatever this Order thing is, I don't think they are idiotic enough to use Floo Powder." Nyphadora Tonks said. She was in fifth year and was already wanting to be Auror.

"_He will not do either," said Snape. "The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place." _

"_All the better," said Voldemort. "He will have to move in the open. Easier to take, by far." _

"You know, you have to admit Voldemort is a great strategist. He knows what he is talking about." This was Wormtail. Lupin looked at the rat with an air of "How could you say that?"

_Again, Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving body as he went on, "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs."_

_The company around the table watched Voldemort apprehensively, each of them, by his or her expression, afraid that they might be blamed for Harry Potter's continued existence. Voldemort, however, seemed to be speaking more to him self than to any of them, sill addressing the unconscious body above him.  
"I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be."_

At these words, the Hall fell into hushed silence. All eyes were upon the three at the front of the room. Dumbledore, however, was putting pieces together. Voldemort's obsession with the boy in front of him, the way Voldemort was at Hogwarts, conniving and determined for revenge. The boy, Harry, must have escaped somehow, from Voldemort.

_At these words, seemingly in response to them, a sudden wail sounded, a terrible, drawn out cry of misery and pain. Many of those at the table looked downward startled, for the sound had seemed to issue from below their feet. _

"_Wormtail," said Voldemort, with no change in his quiet, thoughtful tone, and without removing his eyes from the revolving body above, "have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner quiet?"_

"WORMTAIL!" James screamed out. He and Sirius lunged for the small rat sitting next to them. Lupin was there, attempting to pull them off. Wormtail was cowering. Only few people knew their nicknames and the rest of the Hall was left in confusion.

"How could you?" Lupin's voice held betrayal and anger. Wormtail looked aghast. He didn't think he would ever betray his friends, but there was always that spark of fear. He didn't want to die and Voldemort looked to be the winning side. Shouting from the other Maurader's alerted Lily.

"STOP!" she shouted. At her voice, James stopped and soon after, the others did too. "I don't know why you are doing that, but you need to stop. The book needs to be finished and then this whole business can be resolved later."

Throughout this whole exchange, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat silently. They had decided to not get involved with that yet, however much they wanted Wormtail to suffer. Once everything had calmed down, Dumbledore continued.

"_Yes, m-my Lord," gasped a small man halfway down the table, who had been sitting so low in his chair that it had appeared, at first glance, to be unoccupied. Now he scrambled from his seat and scurried from the room, leaving nothing behind him but a curious gleam of silver. _

"_As I was saying," continued Voldemort, looking again at the tense faces of his followers, "I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter."_

"Why would he need to borrow a wand?" someone from the Ravenclaw table shouted to Harry. They were the first person to be brave enough to directly talk to the newcomer's, apart from James.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, asking the silent question: Should I tell them? After a quick and silent conversation, Harry answered.

"Voldemort," at this people gasped at the name but Harry ignored that and continued. " Voldemort and I share the same core. We have brother wands, so they are unable to hurt each other." As people digested this startling information, Harry urged Dumbledore to continue before anyone else could ask more questions.

_The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced he wanted to borrow one of their arms. _

"_No volunteers?" said Voldemort. "Let's see…Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore." _

_Lucius Malfoy looked up. His skin speared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. _

"_My Lord?" _

"_Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand." _

"_I…"_

Sirius muttered to James, "Do you think we should be taking notes on names of the Death Eaters?"

"I don't know. I don't think we should. I mean, the book is going to still be here when we finish."

_Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, her long blonde hanging down her back, but beneath the table of her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist. At her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort, who held it up to front of his red eyes, examining it closely. _

"_What is it?"_

"_Elm, my Lord," whispered Malfoy. _

"_And the core?" _

"_Dragon-dragon heartstring."_

"_Good," said Voldemort. He drew out his own wand and compared the lengths. Lucius Malfoy made an involuntary movement; for a fraction of a second, it seemed as if he expected to receive Voldemort's wand in exchange for his own. The gesture was not missed by Voldemort, whose eyes widened maliciously. _

Snape was filling with fear. Even he, who hasn't joined yet, knew to not expect anything from the Dark Lord. It just wasn't done, unless you had a death wish.

"_Give you my wand, Lucius? __**My**__ wand?"_

_Some of the throng sniggered. _

"_I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late…What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?" _

"_Nothing-nothing my Lord!"_

"_Such __**Lies**__, Lucius…"_

_The soft voice seemed to hiss even after the cruel mouth had stopped moving. One or two of the wizards barely repressed a shudder as the hissing grew louder; something heavy could be heard sliding across the floor beneath the table. _

At this, the Hufflepuffs glared over at the Slytherins, whose symbol was a snake. They shrugged, like they could do anything about it.

_The huge snake emerged to climb slowly up Voldemort's chair. It rose, seemingly endlessly, and came to rest across Voldemort's shoulders: its neck the thickness of a man's thigh; its eyes, with their vertical slits for pupils, unblinking. Voldemort stroked the creature absently with long thin finger, still looking at Lucius Malfoy. _

"_Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?" _

"_Of course, my Lord," said Lucius Malfoy. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. "We did desire it- we do."_

_To Malfoy's left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort and the snake. To his right, his son, Draco, who had been gazing up at the inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Voldemort and away again, terrified to make eye contact. _

"_My Lord, "said a dark women halfway down the table, her voice constricted with emotion, "it is an honor to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure."_

"Oh no." Tonks groaned. She knew who it was. It was her aunt, Bellatrix, biggest believer in Voldemort since he came to power. People gave her funny looks. "She is my aunt. My mum doesn't associate with her any more."

_She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in bearing and demeanor; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longing for closeness. _

"_No higher pleasure," repeated Voldemort, his head tilted a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, coming from you."_

_Her face flooded with color; her eyes welled with tears of delight. _

"_My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!"_

"It's revolting isn't it." Lily whispered to Molly. Molly agreed. Already, Molly was planning of what to do to Bellatrix. And Bellatrix was going to not be happy.

"_No higher pleasure…even compared with the happy event, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?" _

_She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused. _

"_I don't know what you mean, my Lord?"_

"_I'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud."_

At this information, Lupin and Tonks went still. The others too became silent. Then the outrage started.

"He is a WEREWOLF!"

"This is NOT acceptable!"

"Get rid of him."

"How could you marry someone? You could kill an innocent person!" Jeers came and James and Sirius came to Lupin's rescue.

"OI! Leave him alone. He is still a person. He still has feelings."

"He isn't going to hurt anyone. Mind your own business!"

Lupin meanwhile wasn't even thinking of what the other people were saying. He was shell shocked. What was his self thinking in the future? How could he let this happen? He already swore to himself that he wasn't going to marry anyone.

"I always knew there was something going on with them." Hermione said.

Once the yelling died down, Lupin stole a look at Tonks, right at the same time as she did. Their eyes met and both blushed. Neither of them had even considered each other. They haven't even had a one conversation.

_There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks; a few thumped the table with their fist. The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth wide and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant were they at Bellatrix and the Malfoy's humiliation. Bellatrix's face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red. _

"_She is no niece of ours, my Lord," she cried over the outpouring of mirth. "We-Narcissa and I-have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries."_

"_What say you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, and though his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. "Will you babysit the cubs?"_

"I would never!" Lupin seethed. James patted his shoulder in comfort and understanding.

_The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring into his own lap, then caught his mother's eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall. _

"_Enough," said Voldemort, stroking the angry snake. "Enough." _

_And the laughter died down at once. _

"_Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time," he said as Bellatrix gazed at him, breathless and imploring. "You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest." _

"God! That is so sick. There is nothing wrong with families, whether they are pureblood, half-blood, muggle born. It doesn't matter. This came from Charity Burbage, of Hufflepuff House.

"_Yes, my Lord," whispered Bellatrix, and her eyes swam with tears of gratitude again. "At first chance!" _

"_You shall have it," said Voldemort. "And in your family, so in the world…we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain…"_

_Voldemort raised Lucius Malfoy's wand, pointed it directly at the slowly revolving figure suspended over the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The figure came to life with a groan, and began to struggle against invisible bonds._

"_Do you recognize our guest, Severus?" asked Voldemort. _

"You better help her, Sev!" Lily shouted out to Snape. Snape met her eyes. She hadn't called him that since the argument they had, several months ago.

_Snape raised his eyes to the upside-down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity. As she revolved to face the firelight, the woman said in a cracked and terrified voice, "Severus! Help me!" _

"_Ah, yes," said Snape as the prisoner turned slowly away again. _

"_And you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, stroking the snake's snout with his wand-free hand. Draco shook his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken, he seemed unable to look at her anymore. _

"Wait, who is Draco?" several people asked. Hermione was upset. The answer was in the book. Didn't these people listen?

"He is Lucius Malfoy's son, haven't you been paying attention?" Hermione said in a cold, clear voice. "He is an evil git at times." Ron stared openly at Hermione.

"Wow Hermione. Didn't know you had it in you." She blushed at this and turned to face Dumbledore again.

"_But you would not take her classes," said Voldemort. "For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."_

At this, Charity screamed. She ran up to the great doors and attempted to open them, but they wouldn't. She pounded against the door and sank to the ground,sobbing. Her friends came over and gave her a hug. Charity didn't want to hear about her own death.

"Why are the doors locked?" one of her friends asked the Headmaster.

"I…I don't know. They shouldn't be locked." It was troubling, that Dumbledore didn't know why the doors were locked. Harry looked at his friends darkly. "I bet I know why they are." He said to his friends.

"Sir, I believe I know why the doors are locked." Harry spoke up. Everyone one was silent, except for Charity, who was whimpering on the ground. "I believe that it is Voldemort's doing. I believe who doesn't want us to leave until we finish the book, it leaves less chance for us to escape. And trust, my friends and I, we are excellent at escaping." At this revelation, the room grew dark.

"So, you mean, we are stuck in here? We can't go up to our dorms to sleep?"

"I'm afraid so. We can always try later."

_There were small noises of comprehension around the table. A broad, hunched woman with pointed teeth cackled. _

"_Yes… Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles…how they are not so different from us…"_

_One of the Death Eaters spat on the floor. Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape again. _

"_Severus…please…please…"_

Charity, her friends, Lily, James and Sirius turned to face Snape.

"I hope that you grow up between now and then, because if not, then you might have just as well, murdered innocent people." That was Sirius.

"What do you think Voldemort does? Why is this coming as a surprise to you?" was Snapes' reply.

"_Silence," said Voldemort, with another twitch of Malfoy's wand and Charity fell silent as if gagged. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote and impassioned defense of Mudbloods in the __**Daily Prophet**__. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance…She would have us all mate with Muggles…or, no doubt, werewolves…" _

_Nobody laughed this time: There was no mistaking the anger and contempt in Voldemort's voice. For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears were pouring out of her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from him again._

"YOU ARE A B******!"

"_**Avada Kedavra.**__" _

Charity broke down sobbing. Lily looked ready to murder someone as well and then they noticed the unusually calm reactions of the trio at the front, as if they were used to unwanted murders. They were battle hardened, especially the black haired one.

_The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his onto floor. _

"_Dinner, Nagini," said Voldemort softly, and the great snake swayed and slithered from his shoulders onto the polished wood._

"That is disgusting!" Molly shouted out. Throughout this whole reading, the trio in the front stayed uncharacteristically quiet. It wasn't that they didn't have their opinions, oh they had plenty of them, it was just it was familiar news to them. Lily and James met eyes at the end of the chapter. Both were ablaze with fury and it surprised them. For once, they were agreeing. And though didn't know it, they both felt a connection to Harry Potter.

**Okay, so there it was. This is all new to me. I don't really know how well I did. Let me know. Hope you enjoyed it. **


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: So, I figured out that I am just going to update when I have a chance. So, it might be a couple weeks, like this one was or it might be only a few days. I am sorry it took so long, but it is what it is. This was a hard chapter to do. There wasn't a whole lot to do with the chapter and I would appreciate it if you would read the bottom author's note, because I explain a few things about what happened in this chapter. Okay? Cool. Enjoy.

P.S. Thanks for all the reviews. They make me really happy. Oh, and slight AU for ages in Arthur and Molly. Sorry for those of you who have to read this again, but I forgot to put this in the first chapter. But now it is all caught up.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All the words in bold are J. words.

Chapter 3

"Who wants to read?" Dumbledore asked.

Professor McGonagall raised her hand and said she would.

"Chapter two. In Memoriam" she called in a high, clear voice.

**Harry was bleeding. Clutching his right hand in his left and swearing under his breath, he shouldered open his bedroom door. There was a crunch of breaking chin: He had trodden on a cup of cold tea that had been sitting on the floor outside his bedroom door.**

"Why would there be a tea cup?" Sirius asked James. James just shrugged.

"Why would I know? Ask the kid Harry if you really wanted to know."

"**What the-?" **

**He looked around; the landing of number four, Privet Drive, was deserted. Possibly the cup of tea was Dudley's idea of a clever booby trap. **

Lily's eyes furrowed at this. Why would this kid Dudley want to booby trap Harry? She exchanged glances with Molly and looked back at McGonagall.

**Keeping his bleeding hand elevated, Harry scraped the fragments of cup together with the other hand and threw them into the already crammed bin just visible inside his bedroom door. Then he tramped across to the bathroom to run his finger under the tap. **

**It was stupid, pointless, irritating beyond belief that he still had four days left of being unable to perform magic…but he had to admit to himself that this jagged cut in his finger would have defeated him. He had never learned how to repair wounds, and now he came to think of it-particularly in light of his immediate plans-this seemed a serious flaw in his magical education. Making a mental note to ask Hermione how it was done, he used a large wad of toilet paper to mop up as much of the tea as he could, before returning to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him. **

"I imagine that would be frustrating." Ron muttered to Harry.

"And you would know this how?" Harry asked Ron.

"Well, I turned 17 just a little while ago."

"Yeah, but you were at Hogwarts, not in the Muggle world. You could use magic whenever you wanted."

**Harry had spent the morning completely emptying his school trunk for the first time since he had packed it six years ago. At the start of the intervening school years, he had merely skimmed off the topmost three quarters of the contents and replaced or updated them, leaving a layer of general debris at the bottom-old quills, desiccated beetle eyes, single socks that no longer fit.**

At this Harry smiled sheepishly as Hermione started telling him how irresponsible that was of him and the health risks it poses.

**Minutes previously, Harry had plunged his hand into this mulch, experienced a stabbing pain in the fourth finger of his right hand, and withdrawn it to see a lot of blood.**

**He now proceeded a little more cautiously. Kneeling down beside the trunk again, he groped around in the bottom and , after retrieving an old badge that flickered feebly between **_**Support CEDRIC DIGGORY **_**and **_**POTTER STINKS**_**, a cracked and worn-out Sneakoscope, and a gold locket inside which a note signed R.A.B. had been hidden, he finally discovered the sharp edge that had done the damage. He recognized it at once. It was a two-inch long fragment of the enchanted mirror that his dead godfather, Sirius, had given him. Harry laid it aside and felt cautiously around the trunk for the rest of his godfather's last gift except powdered glass, which clung to the deepest layer of debris like glittering grit. **

At this, James and Sirius sat forward in the chair, taken aback.

"Oh my gosh." James said. He was slightly scared. This person, Harry Potter, had to be his son. They looked alike and had the same surname. And James was not sure how he felt about Harry just yet.

"That settles it." Sirius said. "The enchanted mirror-which we uses just yesterday-and the fact that Sirius is his godfather, he has to be your kid."

"That's not the only thing worrying me. He said you were dead." James told Sirius. This made Sirius pale and Remus Lupin heard the whole thing.

"But how could you die? It isn't that far away. You can't have died of old age." Remus told the other two.

**Harry sat up and examined the jagged piece on which he had cut himself, seeing nothing but his own bright green eyes reflected back at him .Then he placed the fragment on top of that morning's **_**Daily Prophet**_**, which lay unread on the bed, and attempted to stem the sudden upsurge of bitter memories, the stabs of regret and of longing the discovery of the broken mirror had occasioned, by attacking the rest of the rubbish in the trunk. **

**It took another hour to empty it completely, throw away the useless items, and sort the remainder in piles according to whether or not he would need them from now on. His school and Quidditch robes, cauldron, parchment, quills, and most of his textbooks were piled in a corner, to be left behind. He wondered what his aunt and uncle would do with them; burn them in the dead of night, probably, as if they were the evidence of some dreadful crime. **

Lily was getting worried. First, Harry is leaving school. And second, he seems to live with these awful Muggles. And that Muggle behavior sounded exactly like what her sister, Petunia, would do.

**His Muggle clothing, Invisibility Cloak, potion-making kit, certain books, the photograph album Hagrid had once given him, a stack of letters, and his wand had been repacked into an old rucksack. In a front pocket was accorded this place of honor not because it was valuable-in all usual sense it was worthless-but because of what it had cost to attain it.**

At the mention of the locket, Harry started to grow angry again. It abated when the reading began, but now it was back. Not an hour ago, he saw Dumbledore murdered all because he went to retrieve the locket. And to make it worse, it was Snape who killed Dumbledore.

**This left a sizable stack of newspapers sitting on his desk beside his snowy owl, Hedwig: one for each of the days Harry had spent at Privet Drive this summer. **

**He got up off the floor, stretched, and moved across to his desk. Hedwig made n o movement as he began to flick through the newspapers, throwing them onto the rubbish pile one by one. The owl was asleep, or else faking; she was angry with Harry about the limited amount of time she was allowed out of her cage at the moment. **

**As he neared the bottom of the pile of newspaper, Harry slowed down, searching for one particular issue that he knew had arrived shortly after he had returned to Privet Drive for the summer; he remembered that there had been a small mention on the front about the resignation of Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts. At last he found it. Turning to page ten, he sank into his desk chair and reread the article he had been looking for. **

Professor McGonagall's voice faltered as she read the next line silently, and then pushed on.

_**Albus Dumbledore Remembered**_

There was a collective gasp. The students remembered what was shouted by one of the trio at the beginning, that Dumbledore was dead. Harry's rage was fueled and went to go and stand up but Hermione and Ron pulled him back down.

"Not now, Harry." Hermione hissed in his ear.

_**By Elphias Doge**_

_**I met Albus Dumbledore at the age of eleven, on our first day at Hogwarts. Our mutual attraction was undoubtedly due to the fact that we both felt ourselves outsiders. I had contracted dragon pox shortly before arriving at school, and while I was no longer contagious, my pockmarked visage and greenish hue did not encourage many to approach me. For his part, Albus had arrived at Hogwarts under the burden of unwanted notoriety. Scarcely a year previously, his father, Percival, had been convicted of a savage and well-publicized attack upon three young Muggles. **_

_**Albus never attempted to deny that his father (who was to die in Azkaban) had committed this crime; on the contrary, when I plucked up courage to ask him, he assured me that he knew his father to be guilty. Beyond that, Dumbledore refused to speak of the sad business, though many attempted to make him do so. Some, indeed, were disposed to praise his father's action and assumed that Albus too was a Muggle-hater. They could not have been more mistaken: As anybody who knew Albus would attest, he never revealed the remotest anti-Muggle tendency. Indeed, his determined support for Muggle rights gained him many enemies in subsequent years. **_

_**In a matter of months, however, Albus's own fame had begun to eclipse that of his father. By the end of his first year he would never again be known as the son of a Muggle-hater, but as nothing more or less than the most brilliant student ever seen at the school. Those of us who were privileged to be his friends benefited from his example, with which he was always generous. He confessed to me in later life that he knew even then that his greatest pleasure lay in teaching.**_

_**He not only won every prize of note that the school offered, he was soon in regular correspondence with the most notable magical names of the day, including Nicolas Flamel, the celebrated alchemist; Bathilda Bagshot, the noted historian; and Adalbert Waffling, the magical theoretician. Several of his papers found their way into learned publications such as **_**Transfiguration Today, Challenges in Charming**_**, and **_**the Practical Potioneer**_**. Dumbledore's future career seemed likely to be meteoric, and the only question that remained was when he would become Minister of Magic. Though it was often predicted in later years that he was on the point of taking the job, however, he never had Ministerial ambitions. **_

_**Three years after we had started at Hogwarts, Albus's brother, Aberforth, arrived at school. They were not alike; Aberforth was never bookish and, unlike Albus, preferred to settle arguments by dueling rather than through reasoned discussion. However, it is quite wrong to suggest, as some have, that the brothers were not friends. They rubbed along as comfortably as two such different boys could do. In fairness to Aberforth, it must be admitted that living in Albus's shadow cannot have been an altogether comfortable experience. Being continually outshone was an occupational hazard of being his friend and cannot have been any more pleasurable as a brother. **_

_**When Albus and I left Hogwarts we intended to take the then-traditional tour of the world together, visiting and observing foreign wizards before pursuing our separate careers. However, tragedy intervened. On the very eve of our trip, Albus's mother, Kendra, died, leaving Albus the head, and sole breadwinner, of the family. I postponed my departure long enough to pay my respects at Kendra's funeral, then left for what was not to be a solitary journey. With a younger brother and sister to care for, and little gold left to them, there could no longer be any question of Albus accompanying me. **_

_**That was the period of our lives when we had least contact. I wrote to Albus, describing, perhaps insensitively, the wonders of my journey, from narrow escapes from chimaeras in Greece to the experiments of the Egyptian alchemists. His letters told me little of his day-to-day life, which I guessed to be frustratingly dull for such a brilliant wizard. Immersed in my own experienced, it was with horror that I heard, toward the end of my year's travels, that yet another tragedy had struck the Dumbledores; the death of his sister, Ariana. **_

_**Though Ariana had been in poor health for a long time, the blow, coming so soon after the loss of their mother, had a profound effect on both of the brothers. All those closest to Albus-and I count myself that lucky number-agree that Ariana's death, and Albus's feeling of personal responsibility for it (though, of course, he was guiltless), left their mark upon him forevermore. **_

_**I returned home to find a young man who had experienced a much older person's suffering. Albus was more reserved than before, and much less light-hearted. To add to his misery, the loss of Ariana had led, not to a renewed closeness between Albus and Aberforth, but to an estrangement. (In time this would lift-in later year they reestablish, if not a close relationship, then certainly a cordial one.) However, he rarely spoke of his parent or of Ariana from then on, and his friends learned not to mention them. **_

_**Other quills will describe the triumphs of the following years. Dumbledore's innumerable contributions to the store of Wizarding knowledge, including his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, will benefit generations to come, as will the wisdom he displayed in the many judgments he made while Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. They say, still, that no Wizarding duel ever matched that between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in 1945. Those who witnessed it have written to the terror and the awe they felt as they watched these two extraordinary wizards do battle. Dumbledore's triumph, and its consequences for the Wizarding world, are considered a turning point in magical history to match the introduction of the International Statute of Secrecy or the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. **_

_**Albus Dumbledore was never proud or vain; he could find something to value in anyone, however apparently insignificant or wretched, and I believe that his early losses endowed him with great humanity and sympathy. I shall miss his friendship more than I can say, but my loss is as nothing compared to the Wizarding worlds. That he was the most inspiring and the best loved of all Hogwarts headmasters cannot be in question. He died as he lived: working always for the greater good and, to his last hour, as willing to stretch out a hand to a small boy with dragon pox as he was on the day that I met him. **_

It was surprising that no one interrupted the article, but everyone was paying their respects to their headmaster, even though he was sitting right in front of them.

Most of the students thought this article was meaningless but Lily was thinking hard. The article seems pointless, why would there be an article about Albus Dumbledore, why not just say that he was dead and some guy wrote a very nice article about him. There had to be some significance, otherwise it wouldn't be in the book.

**Harry finished reading but continued to gaze at the picture accompanying the obituary. Dumbledore was wearing his familiar, kindly smile, but as he peered over the top of his half-moon spectacle, he gave the impression, even in newsprint, of X-raying Harry, whose sadness mingled with a sense of humiliation. **

**He had thought he knew Dumbledore quite well, but ever since reading this obituary he had been forced to recognize that he had barely known him at all. Never once had he imagined Dumbledore's childhood or youth; it was as though he had sprung into being as Harry had known him, venerable and silver-haired and old. The idea of a teenage Dumbledore was simply odd, like trying to imagine a stupid Hermione or a friendly Blast-Ended Skrewt.**

Hermione smiled at the description. It was a compliment.

"What is a Blast-Ended Skrewt?" James asked Remus.

"No idea." He said. "I'm assuming they aren't pleasant."

**He had never thought to ask Dumbledore about his past. No doubt it would have felt strange, impertinent even, but after all, it had been common knowledge that Dumbledore had taken part in that legendary duel with Grindelwald, and Harry had not thought to ask Dumbledore what that had been like, nor about any of his other famous achievements. No, they had always discussed Harry, Harry's past, Harry's future, Harry's plans…and it seemed to Harry now, despite the fact that his future was so dangerous and so uncertain, that he had missed irreplaceable opportunities when he had failed to ask Dumbledore more about h himself, even though the only personal question he had ever asked his headmaster was also the only one he suspected that Dumbledore had not answered honestly:**

"_**What do you see when you look in the mirror?"**_

"_**I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks." **_

Harry gave a ghost of a smile at the thought. Dumbledore, however, was thinking. He was had a good guess that it was the Mirror of Erised. But how could have this young, black haired person come across that mirror? There was something off about Harry, as if there was something in him that didn't belong.

**After several minutes' thought, Harry tore the obituary out of the **_**Prophet**_**, folded it carefully, and tucked it inside the first volume of **_**Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts.**_** Then he threw the rest of the newspaper onto the rubbish pile and turned to face the room. It was much tidier. The only things left out of place were today's **_**Daily Prophet**_**, still lying on the bed, and on top of it, the piece of broken mirror.**

**Harry moved across the room, slid the mirror fragment off today's **_**Prophet, **_**and unfolded the newspaper. He had merely glanced at the headline when he had taken the rolled-up paper from the delivery owl early that morning and thrown it aside, after noting that it said nothing about Voldemort. Harry was sure that the Ministry was leaning on the **_**Prophet**_** to suppress news about Voldemort. It was only now, therefore, that he saw what he had missed. **

**Across the bottom half of the front page a smaller headline was set over a picture of Dumbledore striding along looking harried:**

_**Dumbledore-The Truth At Last?**_

Harry and Ron grimaced at the title. It reminded them of Rita Skeeter's writing. And they weren't too fond of her.

_**Coming next week, the shocking story of the flawed genius considered by many to be the greatest wizard of his generation. Stripping away the popular image of serene, silver-bearded wisdom, Rita Skeeter reveals the disturbed childhood, the lawless youth, the lifelong feuds, and the guilty secrets that Dumbledore carried to his grave. WHY was the man tipped to be Minister of Magic content to remain a mere headmaster? WHAT was the real purpose of the secret organization known as the Order of The Phoenix? HOW did Dumbledore really meet his end? **_

_**The answers to these and many more questions are explored in the explosive new biography, **_**The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore**_**, by Rita Skeeter, exclusively interviewed by Betty Braithwaite, page 13, inside.**_

"That sounds like a load of hogswash!" Lily shouted out.

"Hogswash! That's is a _great _insult!" James said sarcastically. Lily glared.

"And this is coming from the person who is so conceited that he needs someone else to think for him!" Even though James tried not to show it, he was hurt. All he wanted was for Lily to love him. He has loved her for six years, ever since he first laid eyes on her in their first year. They were older now. He had hoped that they would have started overcoming the insults.

"That was a bit harsh, don't you think?" Molly whispered to Lily. Lily just shrugged but looked uncomfortable.

**Harry ripped open in the paper and found page thirteen. The article was topped with a picture showing another familiar face: a woman wearing jeweled glasses with elaborately curled hair, her teeth bared in what was clearly supposed to be a winning smile, wiggling her fingers up at him. Doing is best to ignore this nauseating image, Harry read on.**

_**In person, Rita Skeeter is much warmer and softer than her famously ferocious quill-portraits might suggest. Greeting me in the hallway of her cozy home, she leads me straight into the kitchen for a cup of tea, a slice of pound cake, and, it goes without saying, a steaming vat of freshest gossip. **_

"_**Well, of course, Dumbledore is a biographer's dream," says Skeeter. "Such a long, full life. I'm sure my book will be the first of very, very many."**_

_**Skeeter was certainly quick off the mark. Her nine-hundred page book was completed a mere four weeks after Dumbledore's mysterious death in June. I ask her how she managed this superfast feat. **_

Hermione gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I think everyone would want to know that." She said under her breath.

"_**Oh, when you've been a journalist as long as I have, working to a deadline is second nature. I knew that the Wizarding world was clamoring for the full story and I wanted to be the first to meet that need."**_

_**I mention the recent, widely publicized remarks of Elphias Doge, Special Advisor to the Wizengamot and longstanding friend of Albus Dumbledore's, that "Skeeter's book contains less fact than a Chocolate Frog card." **_

_**Skeeter throws back her head and laughs. **_

"_**Darling Dodgy! I remember interviewing him a few years back about merpeople rights, bless him. Completely gaga, seemed to think we were sitting at the bottom of Lake Windermere, kept telling me to watch out for trout."**_

_**And yet Elphias Doge's accusations of inaccuracy have been echoed in many places. Does Skeeter really feel that four short weeks have been enough to gain a full picture of Dumbledore's long and extraordinary life?**_

"_**Oh, my dear," beams Skeeter, rapping me affectionately across the knuckles, "you know as well as I do how much information can be generated by a fat bag of Galleons, a refusal to hear the word 'no,' and a nice shape Quick-Quotes Quill! People were queuing to dish the dirt on Dumbledore anyway. Not everyone thought he was so wonderful, you know-he trod on an awful lot of important toes. But old Dodgy doge can get off his high hippogriff, because I've had access to a source most journalists would swap wands for, one who has never spoken in public before and who was close to Dumbledore during the most turbulent and disturbing phase of his youth."**_

Dumbledore closed his eyes in memory of his younger sister Ariana but quickly opened them before anyone noticed.

_**The advance for publicity for Skeeter's biography certainly suggested that there will be shocks in store for those who believe Dumbledore to have led a blameless life. What were the biggest surprises she uncovered, I ask?**_

"_**Now, come off it, Betty, I'm not giving away all the highlights before anybody's bought the book!" laughs Skeeter. "But I can promise that anybody whostill thinks Dumbledore was white as h is beard is in for a rude awakening! Let's just say that nobody hearing him rage against You-Know-Who would have dreamed that he dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth! And for a wizard who spent his later years pleading for tolerance, he wasn't exactly broad-minded when he was younger Yes, Albus Dumbledore had an extremely murky past, not to mention that very fish family, which he worked so hard to keep hushed up." **_

_**I ask whether Skeeter is referring to Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, whose conviction by the Wizengamot for misuse of magic caused a minor scandal fifteen years ago. **_

"_**Oh, Aberforth is just the tip of the dung heap," laughs Skeeter. "No, no, I'm talking about much worse than a brother with a fondness for fiddling about with goats, worse even than the Muggle-maiming father-Dumbledore couldn't keep either of them quiet anyway, they were both charged by the Wizengamot. No, it's the mother and the sister that intrigued me, and a little digging uncovered a positive nest of nastiness-but, as I say, you'll have to wait for chapter nine to twelve for full details. All I can say now is, it's no wonder Dumbledore never talked about how his nose got broken."**_

_**Family skeletons notwithstanding, does Skeeter deny the brilliance that led to Dumbledore's many magical discoveries**_

"_**He had brains," she concedes, "although many now question whether he could really take full credit for all of his supposed achievements. As I reveal in chapter sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already discovered eight uses of dragon's blood when Dumbledore 'borrowed' his papers."**_

Many students seemed taken aback at this. How could their great headmaster work with the Dark Arts? Professor McGonagall saw this and had to say something.

"Don't judge. This Rita Skeeter person seems more in tune to gossip, rather than the facts."

_**But the importance of some of Dumbledore's achievements cannot, I venture, be denied. What of his famous defeat of Grindelwald?**_

"_**Oh, now, I'm glad you mentioned Grindelwald," says Skeeter with a tantalizing smile. "I'm afraid those who do dewy-eyed over Dumbledore's spectacular victory must brace themselves for a bombshell-or perhaps a Dungbomb. Very dirty business indeed. All I'll say is, don't be so sure that there was the spectacular duel of legend. After they've read my book, people may be force to conclude that Grindelwald simply conjured a white handkerchief from the end of his want and came quietly!"**_

_**Skeeter refuses to give any more away on this intriguing subject, so we turn instead to the relationship that will undoubtedly fascinate her readers more than any other. **_

"_**Oh yes," says Skeeter, nodding briskly, "I devote an entire chapter to the whole Potter-Dumbledore relationship. It's been called unhealthy, even sinister. Again, your readers will have to buy my book for the whole story, but there is no question that Dumbledore took an unnatural interest in Potter from the word go. Whether that was really in the boy's best interest-well, we'll see. It's certainly an open secret that Potter has had a most troubled adolescence."**_

Dumbledore took this into consideration. If he had started mentoring Harry Potter, then Harry must have done something great or was in danger of harming other people, or himself.

Harry was outraged at this. His eyes flashed with anger and he could feel his adrenaline building again.

_**I ask whether Skeeter is still in touch with Harry Potter, whom she so famously interviewed last year: a breakthrough piece in which Potter spoke exclusively of his conviction that You-Know-Who had returned. **_

"_**Oh, yes, we've developed a close bond," says Skeeter. "Poor Potter had few real friends, and we met at one of the most testing moments of his life- the Triwizard Tournament. I am probably one of the only people alive who can say that they know the real Harry Potter."**_

Whispers broke out in the Great Hall. Did McGonagall say the Triwizard Tournament? When did that come back?

_**Which leads us neatly to the many rumors still circulating about Dumbledore's final hours. Does Skeeter believe that Potter was there when Dumbledore died?**_

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry, trying not to show pity. They knew Harry hated it when people pitied him.

James and Lily eyes went to Harry and they were both thinking the same thing: How could that have happened?

"_**Well, I don't want to say too much-it's all in the book- but eyewitnesses inside Hogwarts castle was Potter running away from the scene moments after Dumbledore fell, jumped, or was pushed. Potter later gave evidence against**_

Here, Professor McGonagall stuttered. How could this happen, she thought.

_**Severus Snape, a man against whom he has a notorious grudge.**_

The Great Hall went silent. Snape was stunned. Sure, he might have wanted to be on the Dark Lord's side, but how could he kill his own headmaster?

James stood up. "I knew it! I knew there was something off about you! You should be expelled!"

Lily was shell shocked. How could her best childhood friend kill the one person everyone looked up to. Her watering green eyes met Snapes and he seemed to be trying to say something with them, but his expression was unreadable.

Harry, who had been holding it in all night, finally exploded.

"HOW COULD YOU!" he shouted to Snape. Hermione and Ron were not able to hold Harry back. Harry pulled out his wand and ran over to the Slytherin table. "HE TRUSTED YOU! How could have done THIS!" Ron and Hermione ran over to Harry and attempted to get him to sit down again.

"Harry, come on. Sit down. This hasn't happened yet. Snape doesn't know why he would do this yet. He doesn't know." Hermione pleaded.

"Yeah, mate, just give it a rest for now." Ron backed up Hermione. Suddenly abashed, Harry gave up. He went back to sit down and waited for the reading to continue.

_**Is everything as it seems? That is for the Wizarding community to decide-once they've read my book."**_

_**On that intriguing note, I take my leave. There can be no doubt that Skeeter has quilled an instant best seller. Dumbledore's legions of admirers, meanwhile, may well be trembling at what is soon to emerge about their hero.**_

**Harry reached the bottom of the article, but continued to stare blankly at the page. Revulsion and fury rose in him like vomit; he balled up the newspaper and threw it, with all his force, at the wall, where it joined the rest of the rubbish heaped around his overflowing bin. **

**He began to stride blindly around the room, opening empty drawers and picking up books only to replace them on the same piles, barely conscious of what he was doing, as random phrases from Rits's article echoed in his head: **_**An entire chapter to the whole Potter-Dumbledore relationship…He dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth…I've had access to a source most journalists would swap wands for…**_

"**Lies!" Harry bellowed, and through the window he saw the next-door neighbor, who had paused to restart his lawn mower, look up nervously. **

"Better watch that temper there, mister." Sirius barked to Harry, trying to relieve some tension.

**Harry sat down hard on the bed. The broken bit of mirror dance away from him: he picked it up and turned it over in his fingers, thinking, thinking of Dumbledore and the lies with which Rita Skeeter was defaming him…**

**A flash of brightest blue. Harry froze, his cut finger slipping on the jagged edge of the mirror again. He had imagined it, he must have done. He glanced over his shoulder, but the wall was a sickly peach color of Aunt Petunia's choosing: There was nothing blue there for the mirror to reflect. He peered into the mirror fragment again, and saw nothing but this own bright green eye looking back at him. **

Lily paled at this paragraph. Harry's aunt's name is Petunia. She had a sister named Petunia. And the behavior toward magic was very Petunia-like. And the book mentioned Harry had green eyes. Lily had green eyes. And this worried her. Partly because if she was right, she most likely had a kid with Potter, and because Harry was in trouble.

**He had imagined it, there was no other explanation; imagined it because he had been thinking of his dead headmaster. If anything was certain, it was that the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore would never pierce him again.**

"And that is the end of the chapter." Professor McGonagall said. There was a collective sigh. It was late and the students were tired, plus the reading had a lot of unpleasant topics. Dumbledore raised his hand and stood to speak.

"It is late. Let us go to bed." He waved his wand and the House tables vanished, and were replaced by hundreds of blue sleeping bags.

As they were climbing into the bags, Harry said, "It reminds me of when Sirus broke into Hogwarts." Hermione smiled at the memory.

"Yeah, but it was scary then. Now shut up and go to sleep. I'm tired." Was Ron's reply.

A/N: Whew. It is done. Okay, first of all, I apologize for any grammar mistakes. Mistakes is better than having nothing at all, I suppose. So, sorry for those. Secondly, this was dang hard to write. I didn't know what to put in there for plot. So, I have ideas for other chapters, but if you have any suggestions or things you want to see in here, send me a review about it, okay? Also, about Harry not telling who is parents are, you have to remember he grew up not knowing his parents and I think it adds a sense of mystery. In my opinion, I don't think Harry would come outright and tell who is parents are, especially when there are other people around and they are teenagers themselves. Heck, they are almost the same age. It would just be weird. I know I'm missing some points here but oh well. Hold on, wait, I remembered. The way Lily acts, it is only because she is confused. So, excuse her behavior. So, yeah.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello. What's up? First of all, thanks for the lovely reviews. They mean a lot to me. Secondly, I have here the next chapter. It has a long introduction before they start reading the next chapter, but I like it. Okay, enjoy, and I probably forgot to say something. Oh well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter 4

Slowly, the inhabitants of the Great Hall woke up. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in a circle talking, waiting for the day to begin.

"Harry, you never had a chance to tell us what happened last night." Hermione told him.

Harry started recounting the tale of the enchanted lake, the fake locket, and the return to Hogwarts. While an unpleasant tale, it had to be said. Once he finished, Ron said, "What do you think happened to the real locket?"

"Dunno. Maybe this R.A.B. person has destroyed it, but I wouldn't count on it."

Hermione was thinking. "So far two horocruxes have been destroyed so far, the Riddle diary and the ring Dumbledore wore. What are the others? Where are the others?" Ron shrugged.

"They would most likely be something that Voldemort considered valuable." Harry was thinking how he had to destroy them; that was what Dumbledore said he had to do.

"You know we are going with you, right?" Ron and Hermione told him. Harry grudgingly nodded. "Anyways, that is probably why you aren't going back to Hogwarts, in the book." Hermione continued on. Hermione looked at Ron expectantly but all he said was "When are people going to wake up? I'm hungry."

Meanwhile, where the Gryffindor table normally stood, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin were also talking. Peter Pettigrew kept trying to talk to them, but they wouldn't speak to him, as he went to the Dark Lord's side.

"So, Harry is your kid." Lupin said to James. The three of them looked across the Hall to glance at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and quickly returned their eyes to their circle.

"I suppose it looks that way, even if he hasn't said it yet."

"It's all very strange, isn't it?" Sirius said.

"Yeah, it is. I don't understand why Voldemort would send these kids. What grudge would the most powerful dark wizard have against a couple of teenagers?" After a moment of questioning silence, their conversation changed topics.

Once everyone was awake, Professor Dumbledore waved his wand and the tables returned. While breakfast was being eaten, Harry noticed someone he didn't see last night. It was Hagrid. He nudged Ron and Hermione, who looked up at Hagrid. The trio smiled, happy to see their friend. Dumbledore stood at the Headmasters' seat.

"Ah, I see you all have your belly's full. Seeing as we can't leave, let's continue reading. Now, who would like to read?" Professor McGonagall raised her hand and said she didn't mind reading another chapter.

**The Dursleys Departing**

"Oh god." Lily Evans sighed. Her sister was dating a man with the surname Dursley. This was more evidence that the person in the front was her son.

**The sound of the front door slamming echoed up the stairs and a voice yelled, "Oi! You!" **

**Sixteen years of being addressed thus left Harry in no doubt whom his uncle was calling; nevertheless, he did not immediately respond. He was still gazing at the mirror fragment in which, for a split second, he had thought he saw Dumbledore's eye. It was not until his uncle bellowed, "BOY!" that Harry got slowly to his feet and headed for the bedroom door, pausing to add the piece of broken mirror to the rucksack filled with things he would be taking with him. **

"**You took your time!" roared Vernon Dursley when Harry appeared at the top of the stairs. "Get down here, I want a word!"**

Ron and Hermione already knew of what Harry's home life was like. Like Ron's disaster phone call before third year, the bars on Harry's window, and the way Harry described Privet Drive. They weren't surprised at the name for Harry.

However, James and Lily looked taken aback. There was more and more evidence that this person was their kid, although, James still had no idea who the mother was. Lily was saddened. She thought that even though she and Petunia weren't getting along, Petunia would still accept Harry. James, though, still wasn't sure if he wanted a kid but the idea was growing stronger and if Harry was his kid, then he didn't want anything to happen to him.

**Harry strolled downstairs, his hands deep in his jeans pockets. When he reached the living room he found all three Dursleys. They were dressed for traveling: Uncle Vernon in a fawn zip-up jacket, Aunt Petunia in a neat salmon-colored coat, and Dudley, Harry's large, blond, muscular cousin, in his leather jacket. **

"**Yes?" asked Harry. **

"**Sit down!" said Uncle Vernon. Harry raised his eyebrows. "Please!" add Uncle Vernon, wincing lightly as though the word was sharp in his throat. **

**Harry sat. He thought he knew what was coming. His uncle began to pace up and down, Aunt Petunia and Dudley following his movements with anxious expressions. Finally, his large purple face crumpled with concentration, Uncle Vernon stopped in front of Harry and spoke. **

"**I've changed my mind," he said. **

"Changed his mind about what?" Sirius Black asked. Lupin raised his eyes.

"You realize that the book is going to tell us, right?"

"Eh, I knew that!"

"**What a surprise," said Harry. **

"**Don't you take that tone-" began Aunt Petunia in a shrill voice, but Vernon Dursley waved her down. **

"**It's all a lot of claptrap," said Uncle Vernon, glaring at Harry with piggy little eyes. "I've decided I don't believe a word of it. We're staying put, we're not going anywhere."**

**Harry looked up at his uncle and felt a mixture of exasperation and amusement. Vernon Dursley had been changing his mind every twenty-four hours for the past four weeks, packing and unpacking and repacking the car with every change of heart. Harry's favorite moment had been the one when Uncle Vernon, unaware that Dudley had added his dumbbells to his case since the last time it had been unpacked, had attempted to hoist it back into the boot and collapsed with roars of pain and much swearing. **

"**According to you," Vernon Dursley said now, resuming his pacing up and down the living room, "we-Petunia, Dudley, and I-are in danger. From-from-" **

"**Some of 'my lot,' right," said Harry. **

The witches and wizards were offended. Why couldn't this Muggle even say Magic? It was absurd. And, most of the people in the Great Hall were confused. It seemed that Harry Potter was important in the future yet they couldn't figure out why he was living with such dense Muggles. And _what_ did Harry do to become important? Nobody had any answers, well, besides the three sitting up front. However, Dumbledore was beginning to wonder.

"**Well, I don't believe it," repeated Uncle Vernon, coming to a halt in front of Harry again. "I was awake half the night thinking it all over, and I believe it's a plot to get the house."**

"**The house?" repeated Harry. "What house?" **

"_**This**_** house!" shrieked Uncle Vernon, the vein in his forehead starting to pulse. "**_**Our**_** house! House prices are skyrocketing around here! You want us out of the way and then you're going to a bit of hocus-pocus and before we know it the deeds will be in your name and-"**

"**Are you out of your mind?" demanded Harry. "A plot to get this house? Are you actually as stupid as you look?"**

"**Don't you dare-!" squealed Aunt Petunia, but again, Vernon waved her down: Slights on his personal appearance were, it seemed, as nothing to the danger he had spotted. **

"**Just in case you've forgotten," said Harry, "I've already got a house of, my godfather left me one. So why would I want this one? All the happy memories?"**

"You left him your house? You HATE your house? And where am I?" James asked. His emotions were all over the place. He was upset that Harry was dealing with the Dursleys. He was glad that Sirius gave Harry a house, he was really grateful for that. But he was scared as to why Sirius gave Harry a house. Why wasn't Harry living with him, if Harry was his son? He shuddered. Too many emotions. "God help me, I feel like a girl."

**There was silence. Harry thought he had rather impressed his uncle with this argument. **

"**You claim," said Uncle Vernon, starting to pace yet again, "that this Lord Thing-"**

Ron sniggered at the name.

"**-Voldemort," said Harry impatiently, "and we've been through this about a hundred times already. This isn't a claim, it's fact, Dumbledore told you last year, and Kingsley and Mr. Weasley-"**

Everyone turned to look at Arthur Weasley. It seemed that in future he had contact with Harry Potter. Why? Was the red headed in the front his kid? Most likely, the kid was tall and had many freckles. Arthur smiled at the thought. He knew that he wanted to be a father one day. And he was hoping to marry Molly Prewitt.

**Vernon Dursley hunched his shoulders angrily, and Harry guessed that his uncle was attempting to ward off recollections of the unannounced visit, a few days into Harry's summer holidays, of two fully grown wizards. The arrival on the doorstep of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had come as a most unpleasant shock to the Dursleys. Harry had to admit, however, that as Mr. Weasley had once demolished half of the living room, his reappearance could not have been expected to delight Uncle Vernon. **

"**-Kingsley and Mr. Weasley explained it all as well," Harry pressed on remorselessly. "Once I'm seventeen, the protective charm that keeps me safe will break, and that exposes you as well as me. The Order is sure Voldemort will target you, whether to torture you to try and find out where I am, or because he thinks by holding you hostage I'd come and try to rescue you."**

**Uncle Vernon's and Harry's eyes met. Harry was sure that in that instant they were both wondering the same thing. Then Uncle Vernon walked on and Harry resumed, "You've got to go into hiding and the Order wants to help. You're being offered serious protection, the best there is."**

Dumbledore was thinking. This person had a protective charm, possibly done out of love. Harry was most likely living there. That must mean Harry's parents are dead. And Harry is a good person, saving the family that was horrible to him. It all added up to a bigger picture. But, even he, Dumbledore was stumped. He needed to know more.

**Uncle Vernon said nothing, but continued to pace up and down. Outside the sun hung low over the privet hedges. The next-door neighbor's lawn mower stalled again. **

"**I thought there was a Ministry of Magic?" asked Vernon Dursley abruptly. **

"**There is," said Harry, surprised. **

"**Well, then, why can't they protect us? It seems to me that, as innocent victims, guilty of nothing more than harboring a marked man, we ought to qualify for government protection!"**

Severus Snape was sneering slightly. This Potter kid, most likely James Potter's son, was just as much trouble as his father.

**Harry laughed; he could not help himself. It was so very typical of his uncle to put his hopes in the establishment, even within this world that he despised and mistrusted. **

"**You heard what Mr. Weasley and Kingsley said," Harry replied. "We think the Ministry had been infiltrated." **

**Uncle Vernon strode to the fireplace and back, breathing so heavily that his great black mustache rippled his face still purple with concentration. **

"**All right," he said, stopping in front of Harry yet again. "All right, let's say, for the sake of argument, we accept this protection. I still don't see why we can't have that Kingsley bloke."**

**Harry managed not to roll his eyes, but with difficulty. This question had also been addressed half a dozen times.**

"**As I've told you," he said through gritted teeth, "Kinsley is protecting the Mug-I mean, your Prime Minister."**

"**Exactly- he's the best!" said Uncle Vernon, pointing at the blank television screen. The Dursleys had spotted Kingsley on the news, walking along discreetly behind the Muggle Prime Minister as he visited a hospital. This, and the fact that Kingsley had mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle, not to mention a certain reassuring something in his slow, deep voice, had caused the Dursleys to take Kingsley in a way that they had certainly not done with any other wizard, although it was true that they had never seen him with his earring in. **

"**Well, he's taken," said Harry. "But Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle are more than up to the job-"**

"**If we'd even seen CV's…" began Uncle Vernon, but Harry lost patience. Getting to his feet, he advanced on h is uncle, not pointing at the TV set himself. **

"**These accidents aren't accidents-the crashes and explosions and derailments and whatever else has happened since we last watched the news. People are disappearing and dying and he's behind it-Voldemort. I've told you this over and over again, he kills Muggles for fun. Even the fogs-they're caused by dementors, and if you can't remember what they are, ask your son!"**

Harry, Ron, and Hermione grimaced. James, Sirius, and Lupin were wondering why the Dementors were going after Muggles.

"Maybe, the Muggle, Dudley, was just in the way and they were really going after Harry." Lupin said wisely. James said nothing. This didn't make him feel any better.

Everyone was thinking that Voldemort was worse than now. And it scared them.

**Dudley's hands jerked upward to cover his mouth. With his parents' and Harry's eyes upon him, he slowly lowered them again and asked, "There are…more of them?"**

"**More?" laughed Harry. "More than the two that attacked us, you mean? Of course there are, there are hundreds, maybe thousands by this time, seeing as they feed off fear and despair-"**

"**All right, all right," blustered Vernon Dursley. "You've made your point-"**

"**I hope so," said Harry, "because once I'm seventeen, all of them-Death Eaters, dementors, maybe even Inferi-which means dead bodies enchanted by a Dark wizard-will be able to find you and will certainly attack you. And if you remember the last time you tried to outrun wizards, I think you'll agree you need help."**

**There was a brief silence in which the distant echo of Hagrid smashing down a wooden front door seemed to reverberate through the intervening years. **

Harry smiled proudly at the memory. Hagrid was startled. There were so many questions that were going through his head.

"What happened?" Hagrid asked, looking at Harry.

"I…I don't know if I should tell you, yet." Hagrid looked crestfallen at the news. As did the rest of the Hall. Everyone wanted to know what happened. "How about…after the book, I'll tell you. And just so you know, it was great."

**Aunt Petunia was looking at Uncle Vernon; Dudley was staring at Harry. Finally Uncle Vernon blurted out, "But what about my work? What about Dudley's school? I don't suppose those things matter to a bunch of layabout wizards-"**

"**Don't you understand?" shouted Harry. "**_**They will torture and kill you like they did my parents**_**!"**

The silence was deafening, after Professor McGonagall said that. James was in shock. Lily was weeping silently, and everyone was quiet.

"You realize that it isn't uncommon, right? Voldemort kills many people. I'm not the only person who has dead family!" Harry called out in the quiet. This jolted many people out of their stupor; however, Lily, James, Sirius, Lupin, and even Peter were still quiet. James looked over and saw Lily crying. He didn't know why. He assumed that it was because she was upset at Harry not having any parents, not because Lily suspected she was Harry's mother.

"**Dad," said Dudley in a loud voice, "Dad-I'm going with these Order people." **

"**Dudley," said Harry, "for the first time in your life, you're talking sense."**

**He knew that the battle was won. If Dudley was frightened enough to accept the Order's help, his parents would accompany him: There would be no question of being separated from their Diddykins. Harry glanced at the carriage clock on the mantel piece. **

"**They'll be here in about five minutes," he said, and when none of the Dursleys replied, he left the room. The prospect of parting-probably forever-from his aunt, uncle, and cousin was one that he was able to contemplate quite cheerfully, but there was nevertheless certain awkwardness in the air. What did you say to one another at the end of sixteen years' of solid dislike? **

**Back in his bedroom, Harry fiddled aimlessly with his rucksack, then poked a couple of owl nuts through the bars of Hedwig's cage. They fell with dull thuds to the bottom, where she ignored them. **

Harry smiled fondly at the mention of his owl. Lily looked up. She always had a soft spot for white owls. She wondered how Harry got it.

"**We're leaving soon, really soon," Harry told her. "And then you'll be able to fly again."**

**The doorbell rang. Harry hesitated, then headed back out of his room and downstairs. It was too much to expect Hestia and Dedalus to cope with the Dursleys on their own. **

"**Harry Potter!" squeaked an excited voice, the moment Harry had opened the door; a small man in a mauve to hat was sweeping him a deep bow. "An honor, as ever!" **

"**Thanks, Dedalus," said Harry, bestowing a small and embarrassed smile upon the dark-haired Hestia. "It's really good of you to do this…They're through here, my aunt and uncle and cousin…"**

"**Good day to you, Harry Potter's relatives!" said Dedalus happily, striding into the living room. The Dursleys did not look at all happy to be addressed thus; Harry half expected another change of mind. Dudley shrank nearer to his mother at the sight of the witch and wizards. **

"He's a coward. Why would Harry go and live with these Muggles after I have…died?" James asked.

"I don't know why he would go live there. And don't call Dudley a coward, because you don't know the whole story. It seems like they have had some unpleasant experiences with magic." Lupin berated James. "And if you ever want Evans to even remotely like you, you have to lose that attitude."

"**I see you are packed and ready. Excellent! The plan, as Harry had told you, is a simple one," said Dedalus, pulling an immense pocket watch out of his waistcoat and examining it. "We shall be leaving before Harry does, Due to the danger of using magic in your house-Harry being still underage, it could provide the Ministry with an excuse to arrest him-we shall be driving, say, ten miles or so, before Disapparating to the safe location we have picked out for you. You know how to drive, I take it?" he asked Uncle Vernon politely. **

"**Know how to-? Of course I ruddy well know how to drive!" spluttered Uncle Vernon.**

"**Very clever of you, sir, very clever, I personally would be utterly bamboozled by all those buttons and knobs," said Dedalus. He was clearly under the impression that he was flattering Vernon Dursley, who was visibly losing confidence in the plan with every word Dedalus spoke.**

"**Can't even drive," he muttered under his breath, his mustache rippling indignantly, but fortunately neither Dedalus nor Hestia seemed to hear him.**

"**You, Harry," Dedalus continued, "will wait here for your guard. There had been a little change in the arrangements-"**

"**What d'you mean?" said Harry at once. "I thought Mad-Eye was going to come and take me by Side-Along-Apparition?"**

"**Can't do it," said Hestia tersely. "Mad-Eye will explain."**

Lily, who had finished crying, felt an enormous sense of relief. She didn't know what was going on with Harry, but at least he was safe with the famous Mad-Eye Moody. Even if she wasn't one hundred percent sure she was the mother, she still better all the same.

**The Dursleys, who had listened to all this with looks of utter incomprehension on their faces, jumped as a loud voice screeched, "**_**Hurry up**_**" Harry looked all around the room before realizing that the voice had issued from Dedalus's pocket watch. **

"**Quite right, we're operating to a very tight schedule," said Dedalus, nodding at his watch and tucking it back into his waistcoat. "We are attempting to time your departure from the house with your family's Disapparition, Harry; thus, the charm breaks at the moment you all head for safety." He turned to the Dursleys. "Well, are we all packed and ready to go?"**

**None of them answered him. Uncle Vernon was still staring, appalled, at the bulge in Dedalus's waistcoat pocket.**

"**Perhaps we should wait outside in the hall, Dedalus," murmured Hestia. She clearly felt that it would be tactless for them to remain in the room while Harry and the Dursleys exchanged loving, possibly tearful farewells.**

"**There's no need," Harry muttered, but Uncle Vernon made any further explanation unnecessary by saying loudly,**

"**Well, this is good-bye, then, boy." **

**He swung his right arm upward to shake Harry's hand, but at the last moment seemed unable to face it backward and forward like a metronome. **

Harry was surprised. Did Uncle Vernon actually seem to _want_ to say goodbye to him? It made Harry feel strange. He felt surprised and sort of pleased, but also disappointed in a way because now Harry really would save him if Voldemort ended up capturing the Dursleys.

"**Ready, Diddy?" asked Aunt Petunia, fussily checking the clasp of her handbag so as to avoid looking at Harry altogether. **

**Dudley did not answer, but stood there with his mouth slightly ajar, reminding Harry a little of the giant, Grwap.**

"**Come along, then," said Uncle Vernon.**

**He had already reached the living room door when Dudley mumbled, "I don't understand."**

"**What don't you understand, popkin?" asked Aunt Petunia, looking up at her son.**

**Dudley raised a large, hamlike hand to point at Harry.**

"**Why isn't he coming with us?"**

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze where they stood, staring at Dudley as though he had just expressed a desire to become a ballerina.**

"**What?" said Uncle Vernon loudly.**

"**Why isn't he coming too?" asked Dudley.**

It hit Harry after Dudley repeated himself that maybe the Dursleys didn't really hate him. Maybe they were just scared. And everyone has a right to be scared.

James, Lupin, and Sirius were glad that Dudley was showing remorse. It was a good thing. And maybe that means Harry's life isn't that bad.

"**Well, he-he doesn't want to," said Uncle Vernon, turning to glare at Harry and adding, "You don't want to, do you?"**

"**Not in the slightest," said Harry.**

"**There you are," Uncle Vernon told Dudley. "Now come on, we're off."**

**He marched out of the room. They heard the front door open, but Dudley did not move and after a few faltering steps Aunt Petunia stopped too.**

"**What now?" barked Uncle Vernon, reappearing in the doorway. **

**It seemed that Dudley was struggling with concepts too difficult to put into words. After several moments of apparently painful internal struggle he said, "But where's he going to go?"**

**Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked at each other. It was clear the Dudley was frightening them. Hestia Jones broke the silence.**

"**But…surely you know where your nephew is going?" she asked, looking bewildered. **

"**Certainly we know," said Vernon Dursley. "He's off with some of your lot, isn't he? Right, Dudley, let's get in the car, you heard the man, we're in a hurry."**

**Again, Vernon Dursley marched as far as the front door, but Dudley did not follow. **

"**Off with some of **_**our**_** lot?"**

**Hestia looked outraged. Harry had met this attitude before: Witches and wizards seemed stunned that his closest living relatives took so little interest in the famous Harry Potter.**

"**It's fine," Harry assured her. "It doesn't matter, honestly."**

"**Doesn't matter?" repeated Hestia, her voice rising ominously. "Don't these people realize what you've been through? What danger you are in? The unique position you hold in the hearts of the anti-Voldemort movement?"**

"Unique position?" Lily mused out loud. What did Harry do? That was the question that was running through everyone's mind. But for Dumbledore, something clicked. It was the missing piece. Harry must have defeated Voldemort at some point in time, quite possibly when his parents were murdered, and that was why Voldemort hated Harry. And why the Wizarding world looked up to Harry.

"**Er-no, they don't," said Harry. "They think I'm a waste of space, actually, but I'm used to-"**

"**I don't think you're a waste of space."**

**If Harry had not seen Dudley's lips move, he might not have believed it. As it was, he stared at Dudley for several seconds before accepting that if must have been his cousin who had spoken; for one thing, Dudley had turned red. Harry was embarrassed and astonished himself.**

"**Well…er…thanks, Dudley." **

**Again, Dudley appeared to grapple with thoughts too unwieldy for expression before mumbling, "You saved my life."**

"**Not really," said Harry. "It was your soul the dementor would have taken…"**

"Could you be any blunter?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I don't know. This hasn't really happened yet."

"And Hermione says I'm insensitive."

**He looked curiously at his cousin. They had had virtually no contact during this summer or last, as Harry had come back to Privet Drive so briefly and kept to his room so much. It now dawned on Harry, however, that the cup of cold tea on which he had trodden on that morning might not have been a booby trap at all. Although rather touched, he was nevertheless quite relieved that Dudley appeared to have exhausted his ability to express his feelings. After opening his mouth once or twice more, Dudley subsided into scarlet-faced silence. **

**Aunt Petunia burst into tears. Hestia Jones gave her an approving look that changed to outrage as Aunt Petunia ran forward and embraced Dudley rather than Harry.**

"**S-so sweet, Dudders…" she sobbed into his massive chest. "S-such a lovely b-boy…saying thank you…"**

"**But he hasn't said thank you at all!" said Hestia indignantly. "He only said he didn't think Harry was a waste of space!"**

"**Yeah, but coming from Dudley that's like 'I love you,'" said Harry, torn between annoyance and a desire to laugh as Aunt Petunia continued to clutch at Dudley as if he had just saved Harry from a burning building. **

Lily rolled her eyes in disgust. Come on, Petunia, if you really are my sister.

Snape was starting to look at the bigger picture. There was something really familiar about the way Petunia was acting, like he had witnessed the behavior himself.

"**Are we going or not?" roared Uncle Vernon, reappearing yet again at the living room door. "I thought we were on a tight schedule!" **

"**Yes-yes we are," said Dedalus Diggle, who had been watching these exchanges with an air of bemusement and not seemed to pull himself together. "We really must be off. Harry-"**

**He tripped forward and wrung Harry's hand with both of his own.**

"**-good luck. I hope we meet again. The hopes of the Wizarding world rest upon your shoulders."**

"**Oh," said Harry, "right. Thanks."**

"**Farewell, Harry," said Hestia, also clasping his hand. "Our thoughts go with you."**

"**I hope everything's okay," said Harry with a glance toward Aunt Petunia and Dudley.**

"**Oh, I'm sure we shall end up the best of chums," said Diggle brightly, waving his hat ha he left the room. Hestia ****followed him.**

**Dudley gently released himself from his mother's clutches and walked toward Harry, who had to repress an urge to threaten him with magic. Then Dudley held out his large, pink hand. **

"**Blimey, Dudley," said Harry over Aunt Petunia's renewed sobs, "did the dementors blow a different personality into you?"**

"**Dunno," muttered Dudley. "See you, Harry."**

"**Yeah…" said Harry, taking Dudley's hand and shaking it. "Maybe. Take care, Big D."**

**Dudley nearly smiled, then lumbered from the room. Harry heard his heavy footfalls on the graveled drive, and then a car door slammed. **

**Aunt Petunia, whose face had been buried in her handkerchief, looked around at the sound. She did not seem to have expected to find herself alone with Harry. Hastily stowing her wet handkerchief into her pocket, she said, "Well-goodbye," and marched toward the door without looking at him.**

"**Good-bye," said Harry. **

**She stopped and looked back. For a moment Harry had the strangest feeling that she wanted to say something to him: She gave him an odd, tremulous look and seemed to teeter on the edge of speech, but then, with a little jerk of her head, she bustled out of the room after her husband and son.**

There was silence at the end of the chapter. So far, hardly any questions had been answered and so many more have popped up. When were they, the students, going to get any answers?

"What was she going to say?" Harry asked out loud. Ron shrugged. But Hermione had an answer, as always.

"Well, it seems as if your family doesn't hate you after all, Harry. With all the emotions displayed by your cousin, well, it might have made your aunt feel more emotional. You have to realize that she lost her sister when you lost your mother. She most likely feels as if she is losing her last connection to her sister." In the quietness of the Great Hall, her words echoed throughout the room.

For Lily, this confirmed it. Harry was her son and James Potter was the father. For most other people, this still left many people in the dark, but Snape just had a revelation.

_If the kid looks like Potter, then he must be Potter's son. And he lives with his Aunt Petunia and acts like Lily's sister and now the girl, Hermione, just said the sister died. And that must mean, oh no, just great, Harry Potter is Lily Evans son. _

**A/N: So, there it was. I realize that there weren't many interuptions and that they were short, but it has been a while since I updated, so I needed something, so I am sorry about that. I know I might sound a little repetive or annoying with repeating how Lily and James aren't completley sure if Harry's their kid, but sometimes people need to be reminded of that and it will make it more dramatic when they know for sure. Also, James and his friends are somewhat in shock, that is why they seem to get over the fact of James being dead quickly. So, anymore questions you have, just ask. And the best news for me(and maybe you too) is that school is almost over. I just have to get through finals. Ughh. But, once summer starts that means faster updates and better chapter. Anyway, thats it and review if you want to.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh my gosh. It has been forever! I am so sorry. Let's just say school got in the way and so did my mom. But I am back. I got really lazy near the end because I wanted to post something and it isn't edited, so sorry for any mistakes. Reminder, since it has been so long, it is a bit AU with Molly, Arthur, and Tonks ages, and a couple of others if I missed any, just FYI.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J. does.**

**Chapter 4 The Seven Potters**

After the last chapter, there was general chatter as the inhabitants of the Great Hall discussed the latest chapter. Most were confused. They didn't understand why this Harry Potter person was so important. They figured he had something to do with Voldemort, but they didn't understand what he did.

James, Remus, and Sirius were sitting on the Gryffindor bench.

"This book is scaring me." Remus said to the other two.

"Oh, is Remus, the big, bad, scary werewolf afraid of a…book?" Sirius teased him. Lupin just glared at him.

"It's not the book. It is the future. If this book is true, then the future looks bleak. Even if Voldemort was gone for awhile, he is back and he seems more powerful than ever." James sat there quietly, throwing the Snitch out and catching it again, mindlessly. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was also scared. Not just for himself, but for Harry Potter. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that Lily Evans was staring at him.

_What am I thinking in the future_ Lily thought. Everything is so confusing right now. Why did Voldemort send Harry and his friends here? It's not because he was being nice, Voldemort is not nice. By sending Harry, Ron, and Hermione here and by reading a book about the future, it is messing up the space time continuum. Voldemort is planning something. And it's not going to be good.

McGonagall cleared her throat and asked who wanted to read next. Lily raised her hand and asked if she could. McGonagall allowed this and floated the book over to Lily. Right as Lily was going to read, James Potter snapped out of it and called out,

"Before Evans begins to read, can we get some comfortable seating here? My butt is beginning to hurt." After the snickers died out, Dumbledore changed the tables into bean bag chairs and Lily began to read.

**Chapter 4 The Seven Potters**

"How can there be seven Potters? I thought it was just James…and Harry now." a third year Hufflepuff asked her friend. Her friend shrugged and said that they would find out in the chapter.

**Harry ran back upstairs to his bedroom, arriving at the window just in time to see the Dursleys' car swinging out of the drive and off up the road. Dedalus's top hat was visible between Aunt Petunia and Dudley in the backseat. The car turned right at the end of Privet Drive, its windows burned scarlet for moment in the now setting sun, and then it was gone. **

**Harry picked up Hedwig's cage, his Firebolt, and his rucksack, gave his unnaturally tidy bedroom one last sweeping look, and then made his ungainly way back downstairs to the hall, where he deposited cage, broomstick, and bag near the foot of the stairs. The light was fading rapidly now, the hall full of shadows in the evening light. If felt most strange to stand here in the silence and know that he was about to leave the house for the last time. Long ago, when he had been left alone while the Dursleys went out to enjoy themselves, the hours of solitude had been a rare treat: Pausing only to sneak something tasty from the fridge, he had rushed upstairs to play on Dudley's computer, or put on the television and flicked through the channels to his heart's content. It gave him an odd, empty feeling to remember those times; it was like remembering a younger brother whom he had lost. **

Harry was remembering the times in that house. He supposed that he did become attached to number 4 Privet Drive at some point in his life; it was one of the most permanent things in his life.

"**Don't you want to take a last look at the place?" he asked Hedwig, who was still sulking with her head under her wing. "We'll never be here again. Don't you want to remember all the good times? I mean, look at this doormat. What memories… Dudley puked on it after I saved him from the dementors…Turns out he was grateful after all, can you believe it?...And last summer, Dumbledore walked through that front door…"**

People were beginning to stare at Harry, Ron, and Hermione again. Harry must be a good person if Dumbledore came to visit Harry at the Muggles house, and Dumbledore only gave house calls to the best people. The trio glanced at each other, they knew what the other students were thinking and it disturbed them because Dumbledore also visited Tom Riddle, who was Voldemort.

**Harry lost the thread of his thoughts for a moment and Hedwig did nothing to help him retrieve it, but continued to sit with her head under her wing. Harry turned his back on the front door. **

"**And under here, Hedwig"-Harry pulled open a door under the stairs-**

Harry cursed under his breath.

"**is where I used to sleep! You never knew me then-Blimey, it's small, I'd forgotten…"**

"Bloody hell, mate."

"And you didn't tell us because…"

"Because it doesn't matter." Hermione wanted to press further but a look from Ron stopped her. Harry obviously didn't want to talk about it. If they dropped it, then maybe Harry would tell them about it.

Molly was furious. She was the most motherly at Hogwarts and it infuriated her that the Muggles had got away with putting someone in a cupboard. Lily was angry too, but knew there was nothing they could do, not at that moment. "Calm down." She said to Molly.

**Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and umbrellas, remembering how he used to wake every morning looking up at the underside of the staircase, which was more often than not adorned with a spider or two. Those had been the days before he had known anything about his true identity; before he had found out how his parents had died or why such strange things often happened around him. But Harry could still remember the dreams that had dogged him, even in those days: confused dreams involving flashes of green light and once-Uncle Vernon had nearly crashed the car when Harry had recounted it-a flying motorbike…**

The older students paled at the mention of the green light. That was the killing curse. And Harry could remember it. But if Harry could remember the green light, why couldn't he remember that he came from the Wizarding world?

"Harry, how old were you when your parents died?" Lily called out in a soft voice. Harry looked at her. It was so weird, seeing his parents his age, where he could communicate with them, and see them, not just looking at a memory.

"I was a year old." He said. James was shocked. _How does he remember the curse?_ He thought to himself. And Lily was wondering if Voldemort tried to kill Harry too.

**There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere nearby. Harry straightened up with a jerk and smacked the top of his head on the low door frame. Pausing only to employ a few of Uncle Vernon's choicest swear words, he staggered back into the kitchen, clutching his head and staring out of the window into the back garden. **

**The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. Dominating the scene was Hagrid, wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike with a black sidecar attached. All around him other people were dismounting the brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses. **

**Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into their midst. There was a general cry of greeting as Hermione flung her arms around him, Ron clapped him on the back, and Hagrid said, "All righ', Harry? Ready fer the off?"**

Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled at each other and then at Hagrid. Although Hagrid didn't know the three in this time, there was something about them that made you want to smile back.

"Do you think that there is something going on between Harry and Hermione?" Sirius asked. James shook his head.

"What makes you say that?"

"Brown hair is not a Potter's type. We go for red hair." James replied, thinking of Lily.

Lily was relieved that Harry had such good friends. She was worried that he didn't or at least, he didn't have any real friends.

"**Definitely," said Harry, beaming around at them all. "But I wasn't expecting this many of you!"**

"**Change of plan," growled Mad-Eye, who was holding two enormous, bulging sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden with dizzying rapidity. "Let's get undercover before we talk you through it."**

**Harry led them all back into the kitchen where, laughing and chattering, they settled on chairs, sat themselves upon Aunt Petunia's gleaming work surfaces, or leaned up against her spotless appliances: Ron, long and lanky; Hermione, her bushy hair tied back in a long plait; Fred and George, grinning identically; Bill, badly scarred and long-haired; Mr. Weasley, kind-faced, balding his spectacles a little awry; Mad-Eye, battle-worn, one-legged, his bright blue magical eye whizzing in its socket; Tonks, whose short hair was her favorite shade of bright pink; Lupin, grayer, more lined; Fleur, slender and beautiful, with her long silvery blonde hair; Kinsley, bald, black, broad-shouldered; Hagrid, with his wild hair and beard, standing hunchbacked to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling; and Mundungus Fletcher, small, dirty, and hangdog, with his droopy basset hound's eyes and matted hair. Harry's heart seemed to expand and glow at the sight: He felt incredibly fond of all of them, even Mundungus, whom he had tried to strangle the last time they had met. **

"What happened to Bill?" Ron asked, a bit panicked.

"Maybe it has to do with the battle at Hogwarts going on right now." Hermione said in a small voice.

"But what could it have been?" Harry asked. Nobody had any answers.

Arthur Weasley gave a small sigh. It looks as if he was going to get his father's baldness. He had been sitting quietly behind his girlfriend, Molly, listening to the story. He was certain that Ron was his son. And he wondered about the other names too: Bill, Fred, George. Molly was also listening to the descriptions and she quite liked the boys' names' mentioned. She turned to face Arthur and asked him a silent question: Are these our children? Arthur shrugged.

"**Kinsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?" he called across the room. **

"**He can get along without me for one night," said Kinsgley. "You're more important."**

"**Harry, guess what?" said Tonks from her perch on top of the washing machine, and she wiggled her left hand at him; a ring littered there. **

"**You got married?" Harry yelped, looking from her to Lupin. **

Again, Remus Lupin blushed. James and Sirius clapped him on the back and whooped.

"**I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very quiet."**

"**That's brilliant, congrat-"**

"**All right, all right, we'll have time for a cozy catch-up later!" roared Moody over the hubbub, and silence fell in the kitchen. Moody dropped his sacks at his feet and turned to harry. "As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it an imprisonable offense to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection, to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already. What he's really done is to stop you getting out of here safely. **

"**Second problem: You're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on you."**

"What's the Trace?" Harry asked.

"How do you _not_ know?" Ron asked, incredulous.

"Possibly because I grew up in a Muggle home and don't read as many books as Hermione does."

"**I don't-"**

"**The Trace, the Trace!" said Mad-Eye impatiently. "The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters.**

"**We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short: Pius Thicknesse thinks he's got you cornered good and proper."**

Harry glanced discreetly at his mother and smiled. He wanted to tell her and James who they were to him, but he didn't think it was the best idea at the moment. Maybe he would do it tonight.

"What protection?" a first year asked. Surprisingly, it was Severus Snape who answered.

"If Harry was there when his parents ' were murdered, then perhaps his mother died to protect Harry, therefore creating a powerful protection spell." Snape said dully. Lily was smiling. She figured that he figured out who Harry's parents were and she was glad Snape choose to answer the question. James however, was wondering how Harry was going get out safe.

**Harry could not help but agree with the unknown Thicknesse. **

"**So what are we going to do?"**

"**We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike.**

"But that doesn't make any sense. There is a big hole in the plan." Harry said to Ron and Hermione. Ron was in agreement.

"No. It makes perfect sense." Hermione said. "The title of the chapter, The Seven Potters. Use Polyjuice Potion and seven people look like you, Harry, and if they all go in different directions, then the Death Eaters don't know which one to go after." Ron nodded in agreement but Harry's eyes flashed in rage.

"No! Not going to happen!"

"Don't you see Harry, this is the only way." Hermione said harshly.

**Harry could see flaws in this plan; however, he held his tongue to give Mad-Eye the chance to address them.**

"**Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or"-Moody gestured around the pristine kitchen-"you no longer call this place home. You and your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full understanding that you're never going to live together again, correct? **

**Harry nodded. **

"**So this time, when you leave, there'll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We're choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen. **

"**The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn't know we're moving you tonight. We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry: They think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with, so we can't just rely on him getting the date wrong; he's bound to have a couple of Death Eaters patrolling the skies in this general area, just in case. So, we've given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley's place, Molly's Auntie Muriel's-you get the idea."**

Lily turned to look at Molly.

"You have an Aunt Muriel. Are some of these your kids?"

"Yeah, we think so." Molly said softly, gesturing to Arthur.

"Thank you, for keeping him safe." Lily said, giving Molly a hug.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked, confused and Lily began to confide her friend of who she thought Harry's parents were.

"**Yeah," said Harry, not entirely truthfully, because he could still spot a gaping hole in the plan. **

"**You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house, you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?"**

"**Er-yes," said Harry. "Maybe they won't know which of the twelve houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once"-he performed a quick headcount-"fourteen of us fly off toward Tonks's parents?"**

"**Ah," said Moody, "I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen of us won't be flying to Tonk's parents'. There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."**

**From inside his cloak, Moody now withdrew a flask of what looked like mud. There was no need for him to say another word; Harry understood the reset of the plan immediately. **

James understood the plan at this point to.

"Harry's not going to like this." He murmured to Sirius.

"No, he's not. If he is anything like you, he is not going to along with the plan." Sirius said in horror.

"But it is his only option." Lupin said, joining in on the conversation.

"**No!" he said loudly, his voice ringing through the kitchen. "No way!"**

"**I told them you'd take it like this," said Hermione with a hint of complacency. **

"**If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives-!" **

''**-because this is the first time for all of us," said Ron. **

"**This is different, pretending to be me-:"**

"**Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," said Fred earnestly. "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever."**

Sirius snorted. Molly smiled. Fred and George sounded like her twin brothers.

"Well, that's Fred for yeah." Ron said.

**Harry did not smile. **

"**You can't do it if I don't cooperate, you need me to give you some h air."**

"**Well, that's the plan scuppered," said George. "Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate." **

"**Yeah, thirteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use magic; we've got no chance," said Fred. **

"**Funny," said Harry, "really amusing." **

"**If it has to come to force, then it will," growled Moody, his magical eye now quivering a little in its socket as he glared at harry. "Everyone here's overage, Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk."**

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Mundungus signed up for this." Lily said sarcastically.

"And why would he even be there if Harry tried to kill him last time they met?" James asked. Lily blushed at her comment. She and James were thinking along the same lines.

**Mundungus shrugged and grimaced; the magical eye swerved sideways to glare at him out of the side of Moody's head. **

"**Let's have no more arguments. Time's wearing on. I want a few of your hairs, boy, now."**

"**But this is mad, there's no need-"**

"**No need!" snarled Moody. "With You-Know-Who out there and half the Ministry on his side? Potter, if we're lucky he'll have swallowed the fake bait and he'll be planning to ambush you on the thirtieth, but he'd be mad not to have a Death Eater or two keeping an eye out, it's what I'd do. They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother's charm holds, but it's about to break and they the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split himself into seven."**

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other in a knowing way. Dumbledore grimaced.

**Harry caught Hermione's eye and looked away at once. **

What was that suppose to mean, most of the Great Hall was thinking.

"**So, Potter-some of your hair, if you please." **

**Harry glanced at Ron, who grimaced at him in a just-do-it sort of way. **

"**Now!" backed Moody.**

**With all of their eyes upon him, Harry reached up to the top of his head, grabbed a hank of hair, and pulled.**

"Ouch." Peter Pettigrew said. Three pairs of eyes swiveled to look at him.

"You have no right to say anything, traitor." Sirius growled.

"**Good," said Moody, limping forward as he pulled the stopper out of the flask of potion. "Straight in here, if you please." **

**Harry dropped the hair into the mudlike liquid. The moment it made contact with its surface, the potion began to froth and smoke, then, all at once, it turned a clear, bright gold.**

"**Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry," said Hermione, before catching sight of Ron's raised eyebrows, blushing slightly, and saying, "Oh, you what I mean-Goyle's potion looked like bogies." **

Molly and Lily's eyes narrowed at that.

"How would you know what their potion would look like?" they both said. Ron and Harry looked away. Even thought their moms were only teenagers, Molly and Lily still had tempers. It was Hermione who answered.

"Oh, you know. Potions class." Hermione squeaked.

"**Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please," said Moody.**

**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Fleur lined up in front of Aunt Petunia's gleaming sink. **

"**We're one short." Said Lupin. **

"**Here," said Hagrid gruffly, and he lifted Mundungus by the scruff of the neck and dropped him down beside Fleur, who wrinkled her nose pointedly and moved along to stand between Fred and George instead. **

"**I've toldjer, I'd sooner be a protector," said Mundungus. **

"**Shut it," growled Moody. "As I've already told you, you spineless worm, and Death Eaters we run into will aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. Dumbledore always said You-Know-Who would want to finish Potter in person. It'll be the protectors who have got the most to worry about, the Death Eaters'll want to kill them."**

"Mundungus is not going to like that." Ron whispered to Harry.

"No he's not." Harry said with a smile.

**Mundungus did not look particularly reassured, but Moody was already pulling half a dozen eggcup-sized glasses from inside his cloak, which he handed out, before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion into each one. **

"**Altogether, then…"**

**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur, and Mundungus drank. All of them gasped and grimaced as the potion hit their throats: At once, their features began to bubble and distort like hot wax. Hermione and Mundungus were shooting upward; Ron, Fred, and George were shrinking; their hair was darkening, Hermione's and Fleur's appearing to shoot backward into their skulls. **

Nobody said anything, but almost everyone was trying to imagine that and it seemed very strange and slightly creepy.

**Moody, quite unconcerned, was now loosening the ties of the large sacks he had brought with him. When he straightened up again, there were six Harry Potters gasping and panting in front of him. **

**Fred and George turned to each other and said together, "Wow-we're identical!"**

"**I dunno, though, I still think I'm better looking," said Fred, examining his refection in his kettle. **

"**Bah," said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave door, "Bill, don't look at me-I'm 'ideous."**

"Oi!" James Potter shouted.

"You know you can't do anything. Fleur isn't here." Harry said to his dad.

"**Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here," said Moody, indicating the first sack, "and vice versa. Don't forget the glasses, there's six pairs in the side pocket. And when you're dresses, there's luggage in the other pack." **

**The real Harry thought that this might just be the most bizarre thing he had ever seen, and he had seen some extremely odd things. He watched as his six doppelgangers rummaged in the sacks, pulling out sets of clothes, putting on glasses, stuffing their own things away. He felt like asking them to show a little more respect for his privacy as they all began stripping off with impunity, clearly much more at ease with displaying his body than they would have been with their own. **

"**I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo," said Ron, looking down at his bare chest.**

Harry looked down, his face was feeling really warm.

"Oh, it looks like little Harry has a girlfriend." Sirius said in a baby voice.

"**Harry, your eyesight really is awful," said Hermione, as she put on glasses.**

**Once dressed, the fake Harrys took rucksacks and owl cages, each containing a stuffed snowy owl, from the second sack. **

"**Good," said Moody, as the last seven dressed, bespectacled, and luggage-laden Harrys faced him. "The pars will be as follows: Mundungus will be with me, by broom-"**

"**Why'm I with you?" grunted the Harry nearest the back door.**

"**Because you're the one that needs watching," growled Moody, and sure enough, his magical eye did not waver from Mundungus as he continued, "Arthur and Fred-" **

"**I'm George," said the twin at whom Moody was pointing. "Can't you even tell us apart when we're Harry?"**

"**Sorry George-"**

"**I'm only yanking your wand, I'm Fred really-"**

Molly smiled. That was exactly what her brothers did. She was positive that Fred and George were her sons.

"**Enough messing around!" snarled Moody. "The other one- George or Fred or whoever you are- you're with Remus. Miss Delacour-" **

"**I'm taking Fleur on a thestral," said Bill. "She's not that fond of brooms." **

**Fleur walked over to stand beside him, giving him a soppy, slavish look that Harry hoped with all his heart would never appear on his face again. **

Harry's face was turning a strange green color.

"Please tell me I have never had that expression on my face before." He told Ron and Hermione. They didn't respond.

"**Miss Granger with Kinsgley, again by thestral-" **

**Hermione looked reassured as she answered Kingsley's smile; Harry knew that Hermione too lacked confidence on a broomstick.**

"**Which leaves you and me, Ron!" said Tonks brightly, knocking over a mug tree as she waved at him. **

**Ron did not look quite as pleased as Hermione. **

"**An' you're with me, Harry. That all righ'? said Hagrid, looking a little anxious. "We'll be on the bike, brooms an' thestrals can't take me weight, see. Not a lot o' room on the seat with me on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar." **

"**That's great," said Harry, not altogether truthfully. **

"**We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom," said Moody, who seemed to guess how Harry was feeling. "Snape's had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never mentioned before, so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're betting they'll choose one of the Potters who look at home on a broomstick. All right then," he went on, tying up the sack with the fake Potters' clothes in it and leading the way back to the door, "I make it three minutes until we are supposed to leave. No point locking the back door, it won't keep the Death Eaters out when come looking… come on…" **

James and Lily were both nervous for Harry and the others. Hermione was scared, but Ron took her hand. She looked surprised. "It will be okay. We always get out of messy situations fine." Ron said.

**A/N: So, what did you think. I know, I know, it's only half of a chapter. I don't know when the next chapter will be, because I am writing another story on a different website and my mom is going kind of Nazis on me about what I am writing. Anyway, thanks for the reviews. I appreciate them. **


	6. Chapter 5 and a half

**A/N: Hey everybody. Guess what, I wrote this entire chapter in two and a half hours. Hows that for efficiency? Since it was written really fast, there may be errors, if you see any, let me know. Thanks for all the favorites and follows. They mean a lot. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I never will own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

Lily continued to read. Everyone was anxious to know what happened next.

**Harry hurried into the hall to fetch his rucksack, Firebolt, and Hedwig's cage before joining the others in the dark back garden. On every side broomsticks were leaping into hands; Hermione had already been helped up onto a great black thestral by Kinsley, Fleur onto the other by Bill. Hagrid was standing ready beside the motorbike, goggles on. **

"**Is this it? Is this Sirius's bike?"**

Sirius smiled proudly at the mention of his bike. James grumbled.

"You're just upset that I'm cooler than you." Sirius bragged.

"**The very same," said Hagrid, beaming down at Harry. "An' the last time yeh was on it, Harry, I could fit yeh in one hand!"**

**Harry could not help but feel a little humiliated as he got into the sidecar. It placed him several feel below everybody else: Ron smirked at the sight of him sitting there like a child in a bumper car. Harry stuffed his rucksack and broomstick down by his feet and rammed Hedwig's cage between his knees. It was extremely uncomfortable.**

As she read this, Lily was concerned. _If it's uncomfortable, that must mean it isn't very safe. I hope Hagrid is able to take care of Harry._ Lily began to accept that Harry was her son. Even if she detested James Potter at the moment, she still wanted her son to be safe.

"**Arthur's done a bit o' tinkerin'," said Hagrid, quite oblivious to Harry's discomfort. He settled himself astride the motorcycle, which creaked slightly and sank inches into the ground. "It's got a few tricks up its handlebars now. Ta' one was my idea." **

**He pointed a thick finger at a purple button near the speedometer. **

"**Please be careful, Hagrid," said Mr. Weasley, who was standing beside them, holding his broomstick. "I'm still not sure that was advisable and it's certainly only to be used in emergencies." **

Arthur Weasley blushed at the mention of him. Most of the Great Hall turned to look at him. Arthur was known as a huge Muggle lover, and thought the people weren't proud to admit it, most thought that he and his obsession would get him far in life. But there he was in the story, right in the middle of the war, fighting Voldemort with his knowledge of Muggle artifacts. They now had a new respect for Arthur Weasley. However, Molly had a different point of view.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO PUT THE MUGGLE THINGS AWAY!" she yelled at Arthur. He just sank down in his chair and waited for Lily to begin again.

"**All right then," said Moody. "Everyone ready, please; I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost."**

**Everybody mounted their brooms.**

"**Hold tight now, Ron," said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a furtive, guilty look at Lupine before placing his hands on either side of her waist. Hagrid kicked the motorbike into life: It roared like a dragon, and the sidecar began to vibrate. **

"**Good luck, everyone," shouted Moody. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One…two… THREE."**

**There was a great roar from the motorbike, and Harry felt the sidecar give a nasty lurch: He was rising through the air fast, his eyes watering slightly, hair whipped back off his face. Around him brooms were soaring upward too; the long black tail of a thestral flicked past. His legs, jammed into the sidecar by Hedwig's cage and his rucksack, were already sore and starting to go numb. So great was his discomfort that he almost forgot to take a last glimpse of number four, Privet Drive; by the time he looked over the edge of the sidecar he could no longer tell which one it was. Higher and higher they climber into the sky-**

**And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were surrounded. At least thirty hooded figures, suspended in midair, formed a vast circle in the midst of which the Order members had risen, oblivious-**

"Damn you Snivillus." James spat at Snape. Sirius and Lupin were also glaring at Snape. Lily was also giving Snape a look of hurt. Her emotions were all over the place and very confusing. On one hand, there was the Potter situation, and then there was Severus Snape. She didn't understand why he was betraying her.

**Screams, a blaze of green light on every side: Hagrid gave a yell and the motorbike rolled over. Harry lost any sense of where they were: Streetlights above him, yells around him, he was clinging to the sidecar for dear life. Hedwig's cage, the Firebolt, and his rucksack slipped from beneath his knees-**

"**No- HEDWIG!"**

For a moment, Harry held his breath. He couldn't bare to loose Hedwig. He knew it sounded silly, she was just a bird, but Harry didn't want Hedwig to leave him.

**The broomstick spun to earth, but he just managed to seize the strap of his rucksack and the top of the cage as the motorbike swung the right way up again. A second's relief, and then another burst of green light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor o f the cage. **

"**No-NO!"**

**The motorbike zoomed forward; Harry glimpsed hooded Death Eaters scattering as Hagrid blasted through their circle. **

"**Hedwig-**_**Hedwig**_**-" **

Harry was in shock. His owl died, his connection to the magical world. Ron and Hermione didn't think that anything would happen to Hedwig, she was an owl with its' own unique personality. Nothing should have been able to kill her.

James realized that this was a sensitive passage for Harry. As gently as he could, he talked to Harry. "I'm sorry about Hedwig, Harry." Harry turned around and their eyes connected. Harry's eyes were a familiar green color. For the first time, James felt a strong urge to make sure that nothing would happen to Harry. He wanted to protect Harry from what was happening in the future. And it finally hit James that he would not be there to watch his son grow up.

_His son._ It was such a strange concept. They were practically the same age right now. But James finally realized that he did want kids, if it was the right girl.

**But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor of her cage. He could not take it I, and his terror for the others was paramount. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a mass of people moving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaring off into the distance, but he could not tell who they were-**

"**Hagrid, we've got to go back, we've got to go back!" he yelled over the thunderous roar of the engine, pulling out his wand, ramming Hedwig's cage onto the floor, refusing to believe that she was dead. "Hagrid, TURN AROUND!"**

"Hagrid, I swear, if you listen to him…" Hermione trailed off, her tone threatening. Even though Hagrid didn't know the bushy haired girl, he swallowed and looked away.

"**MY job's ter get you there safe, Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, and he opened the throttle. **

"**Stop-STOP!" Harry shouted, but as he looked back again two jets of green light flew past his left ear: Four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were pursuing them, aiming for Hagrid's broad back. Hagrid swerved, but the Death Easters were keeping up with the bike; more curses shot after them, and Harry had to sink low into he sidecar to avoid them. Wriggling around he cried, "**_**Stupefy**_**!" and a read bolt of light shot from his own wand, cleaving a gap between the four pursuing Death Eaters as they scattered to avoid it. **

"**Hold on, Harry, this'll do for 'em!" roared Hagrid, and Harry looked up just in time to see Hagrid slamming a thick finger into a green button near the fuel gauge.**

**A wall, a sold brick wall, erupted out of the exhaust pipe. **

"Awesome!" Sirius yelled. Ron smiled.

"Great job D-Arthur." He almost said Dad. Ron wasn't sure if he wanted his parents to know who he was. That would mean they would know about the trouble he and Harry and Hermione get into and that would mean more yelling from Mum.

**Craning his neck, Harry saw it expand into being in midair. Three of the Death Eaters swerved and avoided it, but the fourth was not so lucky: He vanished from view and then dropped like boulder from behind it, his broomstick broken into pieces. One of his fellows slowed up to save him, but they and the airborne wall were swallowed by darkness as Hagrid leaned low over the handlebars and sped up.**

Hermione noticed something interesting. "The Death Eaters go back for each other." She whispered to Harry and Ron.

"But…wouldn't they leave each other behind, that's the kind of impression they give off." Ron said.

"They are still people, Ron. People forget that."

**More Killing Curses flew past Harry's head from the two remaining Death Eaters' wands; they were aiming for Hagrid. Harry responded with further Stunning Spells: Red and green collided in midair in a shower of multicolored sparks, and Harry thought wildly of fireworks, and the Muggles below who would have no idea what was happening-**

"**Here we go again, Harry, hold on!" yelled Hagrid, and he jabbed at a second button. This time a great net burst from the bike's exhaust, but the Death Eaters were ready for it. Not only did they swerve to avoid it, but the companion who had slowed to save their unconscious friend had caught up. He bloomed suddenly out of the darkness and now three of them were pursuing the motorbike, all shooting curses after it. **

The students in the Great Hall have never been in a real duel before, let alone in a battle for their lives. This was terrifying to them. The younger students were wondering how Harry knew how to stay alive. The older students were wondering why it came so instinctive for Harry to survive.

"**This'll do it, Harry, hold on tight!" yelled Hagrid, and Harry saw him slam his whole hand onto the purple button beside the speedometer. **

**With an unmistakable bellowing roar, dragon fire burst from the exhaust, white-hot and blue, and the motorbike shot forward like a bullet with a sound of wrenching metal. Harry saw the Death Eaters swerve out of sight to avoid the deadly trail of flame, and at the same time felt the sidecar sway ominously: Its metal connections to the bike had splintered with the force of acceleration.**

"**It's all righ', Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, now thrown flat onto this back by the surge of speed; nobody was steering now, and the sidecar was starting to twist violently in the bike's slipstream.**

"No, Hagrid. Don't try to fix it." Lily muttered under her breath.

"**I'm on it, Harry, don' worry!" Hagrid yelled, and from inside his jacket pocket he pulled his flowery pink umbrella.**

"**Hagrid! No! Let me!" **

"_**REPARO**_**!" **

**There was a deafening bang and the sidecar broke away from the bike completely: Harry sped forward, propelled by the impetus of the bike's flight, then the sidecar began to lose height-**

**In desperation Harry pointed his wand at the sidecar and shouted, "**_**Wingardium Leviousa**_**!"**

At the mention of the spell, Harry, Ron, and Hermione began smiling, remember the troll in the bathroom. Some older students were rolling their eyes at the mention of the simple spell. It would never work, there was too much weight. The younger students eyes' lit up. They were amazed that a first year spell was used in a chase with Death Eaters.

"Not going to work. Not for long at least." Snape sneered at them.

"Oh, you'd be surprised at what you can accomplish with a levitating charm." Ron said with a smirk.

**The sidecar rose like a cork, unsteerable but at least still airborne: He had but a split second's relief, however as more curses streaked past him: The three Death Eaters were closing in. **

"**I'm comin', Harry!" Hagrid yelled from out of the darkness, but Harry could feel the sidecar beginning to sink again: Crouching as low as he could, he pointed at the middle of the oncoming figures and yelled, "**_**Impedimenta**_**!" The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest: For a moment the man was absurdly spread-eagled in midair as though he had hit an invisible barrier: One of the fellows almost collided with him-**

**Then the sidecar began to fall in earnest, and the remaining Death Eaters shot a curst so close to Harry that he had to duck below the rim of the car, knocking out a tooth on the edge of his seat-**

"**I'm comin', Harry, I'm comin'!" **

Lily was getting angry. Harry was falling to his death and nobody was getting to him.

"Hagrid, you better save Harry!" Lily said in her most threatening voice. James was confused. Why would Lily defend Harry, whose last name was Potter and looked like him? The way she talked to Hagrid about Harry, it was a protective voice. James' brain started to fit the puzzle pieces together. Harry was almost exactly like James, except…Harry had green eyes…that looked like Lily's. James' eyes widened at this piece of information. If Lily was Harry's mother, then that meant she married, him, James. He was elated for about three seconds before he remembered that Harry's parents were dead.

**A huge hand seized the back of Harry's robes and hoisted him out of the plummeting sidecar; Harry pulled his rucksack with him as he dragged himself onto the motorbike's seat and hound himself back-to-back with Hagrid. As they soared upward, away from the two remaining Death Eaters, Harry spat blood out of his mouth, pointed his want at the falling sidecar, and yelled, "**_**Confringo**_**!" **

**He knew a dreadful, gut-wrenching pang for Hedwig as it exploded; the Death Eater nearest it was blasted off his broom and fell from sight; his companion fell back and vanished. **

"**Harry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," moaned Hagrid, "I shouldn'ta tried ter repair it meself- yeh've got no room-"**

"**It's not a problem, just keep flying!" Harry s shouted back, as two more Death Eaters emerged out of the darkness, drawing closer. **

**As the curses came shooting across the intervening space again, Hagrid swerved and zigzagged: Harry knew that Hagrid did not dare use the dragon-fire button again, with Harry seated so insecurely. Harry sent Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell back at their pursuers, barely holding them off. He shot another blocking jinx at them: The closest Death Eater swerved to avoid it and his hot slipped, and by the red light of his next Stunning Spell, Harry saw the strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike-Stan-"**

"Stan? From the Knight Bus?" Ron asked. "What is he doing with the Death Eaters?" He turned immediately to look at Hermione, who had all the answers.

"Imperiused most likely." Hermione answered.

"_**Expelliarmus**_**!" Harry yelled.**

"Harry!" Hermione chided.

"What? I don't think I really want to kill Stan?" Harry defended himself. Hermione groaned.

"**That's him, it's him, it's the real one!"**

"How do they know that is the real Harry Potter?" Sirius asked. Remus Lupin just shrugged. "Must be something from the future."

**The hooded Death Eater's shout reached Harry even above the thunder of the motorbike's engine: Next moment, both pursers had fallen back and disappeared from view. **

"**Harry, what's happened?" bellowed Hagrid. "Where've they gone?"**

"**I don't know!" **

**But Harry was afraid: The hooded Death Eater had shouted, "It's the real one!"; how had he known? He gazed around at the apparently empty darkness and felt its menace. Where were they?**

**He clambered around on the seat to face forward and seized hold of the back of Hagrid's jacket.**

"**Hagrid, do the dragon-fire thing again, let's get out of here!" **

"**Hold on tight, then, Harry!" **

**There was a defending, screeching roar again and the white-blue fire shot from the exhaust: Harry felt himself slipping backward off what little of the seat he had, Hagrid flung backward upon him, barely maintaining his grip on the handlebars-**

"**I think we've lost 'em Harry, I think we've done it!" yelled Hagrid.**

"Hagrid! You jinxed it! How could you!" Lily yelled at Hagrid. Nobody seemed really concerned about Harry's well being. Her head swung wildly to the person she was sure would be worried. Her gaze swept past Molly and landed on James Potter. Their eyes locked and in an instant, Lily could tell that he was worried and also that he suspected Lily was the mother. James gave a tight nod with a serious expression on his face that reassured Lily all the same.

**But Harry was not convinced: Fear lapped at him as he looked left and right for pursuers he was sure would come… Why had they fallen back? On of them had still had a wand…**_**It's him**_**…**_**it's the real one**_**…. They had it right after he had tried to Disarm Stan…**

"**We're nearly there, Harry we've nearly made it!" shouted Hagrid. **

**Harry left the bike drop a little, though the lights down on the ground still seemed remote as stars.**

**Then the scar on his forehead burned like fire; as a Death Eater appeared on either side of the bike, two Killing Curses missed Harry by millimeters, cast from behind-**

Dumbledores' eyebrows furrowed. He was positive that Harry's scar was a curse scar. Why would it burn though? Does the scar connect Harry to Voldemort?

**And then harry saw him. Voldemort was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, his snakelike face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his want again-**

**Hagrid let out a bellow of fear and steered the motorbike into vertical dive. Clinging on for dear life, Harry sent Stunning Spells flying at random into the whirling night. He saw sparks from the engine; the motorbike spiraled through the air, completely out of control-**

**Green jets of light shot past them again. Harry had no idea which was up, which down: His scar was still burning; he expected to die at any second. A hooded figure on a broomstick was feet from him, he saw it raise its arm-**

Lily handed the book to Molly for her to finish reading. Lily just curled into a ball on her bean bag and hid her face.

"**NO!" **

**With a shout of fury Hagrid launched himself off the bike at the Death Eater; to his horror, Harry saw both Hagrid and the Death Eater falling out of sight, their combined weight too much for the broomstick-**

Hermione grabbed Ron's hand. He gave her hand a small squeeze, to tell Hermione that everything would be okay.

**Barely gripping the plummeting bike with his knees, Harry heard Voldemort scream, "**_**Mine**_**!" **

**It was over: He could not see or hear where Voldemort was; he glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and hear, "**_**Avada**_**-"**

**As the pain from Harry's scar forced his eyes shut, his wand acted of its own accord. He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of fury. The remaining Death Eater yelled; Voldemort screamed, "**_**No**_**!" : Somehow, Harry found his nose an inch from the dragon-fire button. He punched it with his wand-free hand and the bike shot more flames into the air, hurtling straight toward the ground. **

"**Hagrid!" Harry called, holding on to the bike for dear life. "Hagrid-**_**Accio Hagrid**_**!" **

**The motorbike sped up, sucked toward the earth. Face level with the handlebars, Harry could see nothing bust distant lights growing neared and nearer: He was going to crash and there was nothing he could do about it. Behind came another scream, "**_**Your wand, Selwyn, give me your wand**_**!" **

**He felt Voldemort before he saw him. Looking sideways, he stared into the red eyes and was sure they would be the last thing he ever saw: Voldemort preparing to curse him once more-**

**And then Voldemort vanished. Harry looked down and saw Hagrid spread-eagled on the ground below him. He pulled hard at the handlebars to avoid hitting him, groped for the brake, but with an earsplitting, ground-trembling crash, he smashed into a muddy pond. **

There was silence as Molly finished reading. It was a hard chapter to get through and it was only the start of the book.

Harry gave a wry smile. "At least we know I survive this attack." Ron gave a confused look.

"How? Are you turning into Trawlaney? If you start sprouting off your own death day, I'm going to kill you myself."

"Don't be an idiot, Ron." Hermione said, although she didn't let go of Ron's hand. "The book is massive. Harry lives." Ron's eyes' swiveled to the book in Molly's hand and shrugged.

"But we don't know about Hagrid, do we?" Ron replied.

**A/N: So, how did you like it? I really like James and Lily in this chapter. And I added a bit of Ron and Hermione. So, you will have to wait until next chapter to see what James and Lily are thinking. Okay, question time: Do you think there needs to be another character from the future? Let me know alright. Until next time.**


	7. Intermisson

**A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait. Let's just say I got really distracted. Anyway, this is just a filler chapter. Hopefully I will have the next chapter up tonight, I have half of it completed. **

**Thanks to brebre96 and Dolphin4444wssc for telling me who I should bring in. **

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Harry Potter. **

James' friends were talking but he wasn't paying any attention. He had to speak to Lily. He got up and started walking toward her.

"Where are you going?" Sirius called. James ignored him. Remus nudged him and pointed to Lily. "Oh."

Lily was talking to Molly about nothing important. It helped take her mind off of the future. She didn't notice James until he started talking.

"Um…Lily…" Lily whirled around. She was about to yell at him to leave but the expression on his face stopped her. "We need to talk." He was right. She nodded and stood up. James and Lily walked to a corner of the Great Hall, where it was less crowded.

"You are Harry's mother, aren't you?" James asked bluntly. He hadn't meant to come right out and ask, rather he wanted to ease into the conversation, but that didn't quite happen. If Lily was shocked, it didn't show.

"Yes." She whispered. Her voice seemed to lose its fire that it normally had when she spoke to James. "Everything seems to point to it, but there is always the possibility that I am wrong." James smiled.

"I never thought that there was a day when you could be wrong." He said teasingly.

"James." Lily said exasperatedly. "What are we going to do? Confront Harry? Talk to his friends?" James was thinking.

"No. I don't think that would be the best." He said. "If Harry wanted us to know, then he would have told us. And his friends seem pretty loyal to him. I don't think they would tell us if we asked them. We should just wait until he approaches us." Lily started to become teary.

"I just…what if we do die…I would never get to spend time with him…Harry is family. What if this is the only time I ever get to be my son?" Lily was starting to cry. On some level she knew this was silly, crying over some person she hardly knew, but somehow she felt like she had to protect Harry. She wanted to have kids and this felt like a punch in the gut, knowing she had one but then died.

"Hey, hey." James said softly. He wrapped her in a hug, surprised she didn't push him away. "Everything will be okay." After a moment, Lily pulled back.

"God, I'm a mess." She said. She looked at James' face. "Don't think this changes anything between us. I still think you are an obnoxious, self-centered jerk. Just because a book came doesn't mean things are going to change in an instant. Love takes time." The fire in her voice was back and James grinned.

"Of coarse. I wouldn't expect anything less." Lily smiled and they made their way back to the Gryfindor table.

As soon as Lily and James got back to the table, the room turned white once again. There were shouts and screams of panic. When the light cleared, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had their wands held high.

Students were peering around the room, trying to get a good look. Something made the trio falter and lower their wands.

"Ginny?" Harry asked. The red-headed girl was standing where Harry, Ron, and Hermione first appeared. She too, held her wand up, ready to curse someone.

"Harry? Is that you?" The girl, Ginny, spoke.

"Yeah. Why are you here?" All four of them lowered their wands. Dumbledore, however, had other ideas. He raised his wand and pointed it at Ginny.

"Hello. Who are you?"he asked, his arm never faltering. Ginny stared at the headmaster. She looked confused.

"I'm Ginny Weasley. But I thought…the rumor is you are dead." She turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "What is going on? Why are we in the Great Hall?" Hermione started explaining.

"Professor Dumbledore, she is friend."Hermione started explaining everything to Ginny.

"So, we are in the past. With our parents. That is so strange." Ginny murmured. "But how did I get here? Obviously, you are here because of Voldemort, but what about me?"

"That's just it. It makes no sense. Bringing us," Hermione waved to Ron, Harry, and herself. "Was a lot of work. It is taxing to keep us here. It would be even harder to bring another person." Hermiones voice was getting louder as she spoke. As soon as she finished speaking, there was a gasp. Lily stood up.

"Yes. That's it!" Lily said excitedly. "The amount of strength it is taking is making Voldemorts magic fluxuate. He is having a hard time controlling it."

"So, Ginny ends up here because Voldemort can't get it under control. Yes." Hermione finished. The rest of the student population was staring at the two girls.

"Does that make Voldemort dangerous, well, even more dangerous than usual?" Ron asked. Hermione contemplated.

"No, it makes him weaker. Once we return to our time, Voldemort will be weak for some time. Not long, not at all, considering he can fly, but it will weaken him." Ginny was starting to feel overwhelmed will all the action, but she put on a brave face and was going to get through it.

"I think it is time for us to begin reading again." Dumbledore said. "Who would like to read?"

"I would." Molly said. She was anxious to read. Lily was her friend and Molly was sure she was looking after Harry for her. She was also worried for her own sons. Add in that her daughter had joined the past, everything was becoming more real. Being the motherly type of person, she had almost no difficulty excepting that she is going to have children. And she and Arthur were in love, it was bound to happen.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny got settled back on the bean bags. Another one had been pulled over for Ginny. They were arranged into a half circle so they were all facing one another. Harry had his arm slung around Ginny. He was enjoying the last of her time with her. Ever since they had arrived in the past, Harry had to come to terms with his personal life. He loved Ginny, he was sure of that. And it was a problem. His life was too dangerous and he didn't want her to get killed because of him. It was a hard decision, an even harder one to execute. Ginny looked him, worried. Harry just shot her a smile. Ron noticed that.

"What is going on?" He asked suspiciously.

"None of your business, Ronald." Ginny said. Ron snarled.

"It is my business if he hurts you."

"And then it is still none of your business. It is my life, not yours."

"Honestly, you two. Give it a break. Ginny, Ron is just looking out for you. Ron, you need to get over it." Hermione interrupted. "Besides, I think Mrs. Weasley is about to read." She was right, of course. The book was passed to Molly, and she began to read.

**The Fallen Warrior**

**A/N: I am sorry it is so short. I wanted to get something up and I didn't want to split half of the chapter. I had fun writing about Lily and James. If you are confused at all, let me know. Review.**


	8. The Fallen Warrior Part 1

_**A/N: So, long time no see. Sorry about that but I am back now. It's all thanks to Xo1234 who left a really nice review and inspired me to get this out. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. I think it has to do with the fact that it's only half of a chapter (sorry about that) and the fact that it has been a while since I have written this. Please keep that in mind as I am sure the quality has degraded some and some the reactions are a little different. **_

_**Also, I have changed my pen name. Used to be Matdancer9. I am the same person!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **_

_**Reminder: THE AGES ARE JUST A JUST A TAD DIFFERENT!**_

**"Fallen Warrior,"**

**"Hagrid?"**

"No. It can't be Hagrid!" Hermione moaned.

**Harry struggled to raise himself out of the debris of metal and leather that surrounded him; his hands sank into inches of muddy water as he tried to stand. He could not understand where Voldemort had gone and expected him to swoop out of the darkness at any moment. Something hot and wet was trickling down his chin and from his forehead. He crawled out of the pond and stumbled toward the great dark mass on the ground that was Hagrid.**

**"Hagrid? Hagrid, talk to me –"**

**But the dark mass did not stir.**

There was a sharp intake of breath from Harry. If Hagrid died, Harry would never forgive himself.

The rest of the Hall was silent. There were mixed feelings about Hagrid in the Great Hall but no one wanted to hear about him dying.

**"Who's there? Is it Potter? Are you Harry Potter?"**

**Harry did not recognize the man's voice. Then a woman shouted. "They've crashed. Ted! Crashed in the garden!"**

"That's my parents!" Tonks cried excitedly. She was worried about them, even though this was years into the future. She was also proud of herself. Tonks wasn't sure how much she would amount to. She was clumsy and not always the smartest person in the room but her future was turning out to be bright. She becomes an Auror. She works with Mad-Eye Moody, one of the most well known dark wizard catchers and she is fighting against Voldemort.

**Harry's head was swimming.**

**"Hagrid," he repeated stupidly, and his knees buckled.**

**The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on what felt like cushions, with a burning sensation in his ribs and right arm. His missing tooth had been regrown. The scar on his forehead was still throbbing.**

**"Hagrid?"**

**He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on a sofa in an unfamiliar, lamplit sitting room. His rucksack lay on the floor a short distance away, wet and muddy. A fair-haired, big-bellied man was watching Harry anxiously.**

**"Hagrid's fine, son," said the man, "the wife's seeing to him now. How are you feeling? Anything else broken? I've fixed your ribs, your tooth, and your arm. I'm Ted, by the way, Ted Tonks – Dora's father."**

Tonks scowled at the mention of her name. Why do her parents insist on calling her _Dora?_

Ginny was on edge. Her brother, best friend, and boyfriend were all in danger and there was nothing she could do to fix it. All she ever wanted was to be included. Everyone did. The Golden Trio was always talked about. People wanted to know how they were always in the middle of things. Last year, when they went to the Ministry, that was her first taste of what Harry, Ron, and Hermione did. It was amazing, being included by the most famous person of all time. But then she went back to being useless, no longer needed by them, even when she became Harry's boyfriend. _I know how to take care of myself. I don't always need to be protected!_ But if this was the closest she was going to get, then she would take it.

**Harry sat up too quickly. Lights popped in front of his eyes and he felt sick and giddy.**

**"Voldemort –"**

**"Easy, now," said Ted Tonks, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and pushing him back against the cushions. **

**"That was a nasty crash you just had. What happened, anyway? Something go wrong with the bike? Arthur Weasley overstretch himself again, him and his Muggle contraptions?"**

Arthur shrugged sheepishly. Molly took a break from reading.

"Honestly. You can't even repair things right! They almost died!" Molly berated Arthur.

"I didn't mean too. And this hasn't happened yet!" Arthur defended himself.

"Besides, it was the Death Eaters who almost killed Harry and Hagrid." Lily injected before an argument broke out.

**"No," said Harry, as his scar pulsed like an open wound. "Death Eaters, loads of them – we were chased –"**

**"Death Eaters?" said Ted sharply. "What d'you mean, Death Eaters? I thought they didn't know you were being moved tonight, I thought –"**

**"They knew," said Harry.**

**Ted Tonks looked up at the ceiling as though he could see through it to the sky above. "Well, we know our protective charms hold, then, don't we? They shouldn't be able to get within a hundred yards of the place in any direction."**

**Now Harry understood why Voldemort had vanished; it had been at the point when the motorbike crossed the barrier of the Order's charms. He only hoped they would continue to work: He imagined Voldemort, a hundred yards above them as they spoke, looking for a way to penetrate what Harry visualized as a great transparent bubble.**

James and Lily shuddered at the thought. While they were still at odds, both of them accepted Harry as their son and wanted the best for Harry.

"It'll be okay." Molly whispered to Lily. Lily was having a hard time listening to the book. If this was the only chance for Lily to learn about her son, then she didn't want it to be the bad stuff. She didn't want to hear about the danger Harry was in constantly. She wanted to hear the good stuff, stuff about his friends and school and hell, even Quidditch.

**He swung his legs off the sofa; he needed to see Hagrid with his own eyes before he would believe that he was alive. He had barely stood up, however, when a door opened and Hagrid squeezed through it, his face covered in mud and blood, limping a little but miraculously alive.** **"Harry!"**

**Knocking over two delicate tables and an aspidistra, he covered the floor between them in two strides and pulled Harry into a hug that nearly cracked his newly repaired ribs. "Blimey, Harry, how did yeh get out o' that? I thought we were both goners."**

**"Yeah, me too. I can't believe –"**

**Harry broke off. He had just noticed the woman who had entered the room behind Hagrid.**

**"You!" he shouted, and he thrust his hand into his pocket, but it was empty.**

Tonks sighed. Her mother was always going to be seen as _her_.

**"Your wand's here, son," said Ted, tapping it on Harry's arm. "It fell right beside you, I picked it up…And that's my wife you're shouting at."**

**"Oh, I'm – I'm sorry."**

**As she moved forward into the room, Mrs. Tonks's resemblance to her sister Bellatrix became much less pronounced: **

**Her hair was a light'soft brown and her eyes were wider and kinder. Nevertheless, she looked a little haughty after Harry's exclamation.**

**What happened to our daughter?" she asked. "Hagrid said you were ambushed; where is Nymphadora?"**

**"I don't know," said Harry. "We don't know what happened to anyone else."**

Harry's stomach tightened with fear and guilt. Ginny noticed the look of pain flash past Harry's face and put a hand on his shoulder. Although no words were exchanged, the simple gesture spoke thousands.

**She and Ted exchanged looks. A mixture of fear and guilt gripped Harry at the sight of their expressions, if any of the others had died, it was his fault, all his fault. He had consented to the plan, given them his hair . . .**

**"The Portkey," he said, remembering all of a sudden. "We've got to get back to the Burrow and find out – then we'll be able to send you word, or – or Tonks will, once she's –"**

**"Dora'll be ok, 'Dromeda," said Ted. "She knows her stuff, she's been in plenty of tight spots with the Aurors. The Portkey's through here," he added to Harry. "It's supposed to leave in three minutes, if you want to take it."**

**"Yeah, we do," said Harry. He seized his rucksack, swung it onto his shoulders. "I –"**

**He looked at Mrs. Tonks, wanting to apologize for the state of fear in which he left her and for which he felt so terribly responsible, but no words occurred to him that he did not seem hollow and insincere.**

**"I'll tell Tonks – Dora – to send word, when she . . . Thanks for patching us up, thanks for everything, I –"**

Lily smiled. Harry was so polite. Maybe growing up with Petunia did some good after all.

On the opposite side of where Lily sat, Sirius was questioning James.

"Are you sure he is your kid, James? He is just too nice."

"Shut up Sirius. I want to listen." James was scared. Bad luck followed Harry but James had a feeling that the streak was ending.

**He was glad to leave the room and follow Ted Tonks along a short hallway and into a bedroom. Hagrid came after them, bending low to avoid hitting his head on the door lintel.**

**"There you go, son. That's the Portkey."** **Mr. Tonks was pointing to a small, silver-backed hairbrush lying on the dressing table.**

**"Thanks," said Harry, reaching out to place a finger on it, ready to leave.**

**"Wait a moment," said Hagrid, looking around. "Harry, where's Hedwig?"**

**"She . . . she got hit," said Harry.**

**The realization crashed over him: He felt ashamed of himself as the tears stung his eyes. The owl had been his companion, his one great link with the magical world whenever he had been forced to return to the Dursleys.**

Harry bowed his head in remembrance of his owl.

**Hagrid reached out a great hand and patted him painfully on the shoulder.**

**"Never mind," he said gruffly, "Never mind. She had a great old life –"**

**"Hagrid!" said Ted Tonks warningly, as the hairbrush glowed bright blue, and Hagrid only just got his forefinger to it in time.**

**With a jerk behind the navel as though an invisible hook and line had dragged him forward, Harry was pulled into nothingness, spinning uncontrollably, his finger glued to the Portkey as he and Hagrid hurtled away from Mr. Tonks. Second later, Harry's feet slammed onto hard ground and he fell onto his hands and knees in the yard of the Burrow. He heard screams.**

Lily was pale white. If anything had happened to her friend, Lily was going to punch someone in the face.

Hermione had the same thought going through her head, until Ron said, "Relax. I'm sure Mum is just overreacting."

**Throwing aside the no longer glowing hairbrush, Harry stood up, swaying slightly, and saw Mrs. Weasley and Ginny running down the steps by the back door as Hagrid, who had also collapsed on landing, clambered laboriously to his feet.**

**"Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are the others?" cried Mrs. Weasley.**

**"What d'you mean? Isn't anyone else back?" Harry panted.**

**The answer was clearly etched in Mrs. Weasley's pale face.**

**"The Death Eaters were waiting for us," Harry told her, "We were surrounded the moment we took off – they knew it was tonight – I don't know what happened to anyone else, four of them chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort caught up with us –"**

**He could hear the self-justifying note in his voice, the plea for her to understand why he did not know what had happened to her sons, but –**

"Oh Harry." Molly interrupted herself. She had already accepted her role in the story. It was easy. She had known for a while that her and Arthur would get married, along with have many children. It was who she was and who Arthur was, and because Harry was her friends' son, the he was part of the family. "Everything will be alright."

Harry believed her. She was the motherly person in his life, and he didn't want to disappoint her if things went sour.

**Thank goodness you're all right," she said, pulling him into a hug he did not feel he deserved.**

**"Haven't go' any brandy, have yeh, Molly?" asked Hagrid a little shakily, "Fer medicinal purposes?"**

**She could have summoned it by magic, but as she hurried back toward the crooked house, Harry knew that she wanted to hide her face. He turned to Ginny and she answered his unspoken plea for information at once.**

**"Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they missed their Portkey, it came back without them," she said, pointing at a rusty oil can lying on the ground nearby. "And that one," she pointed at an ancient sneaker, "should have been Dad and Fred's, they were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were third and," she checked her watch, "if they made it, George and Lupin ought to be back in about a minute."**

**Mrs. Weasley reappeared carrying a bottle of brandy, which she handed to Hagrid. He uncorked it and drank it straight down in one.**

**"Mum!" shouted Ginny pointing to a spot several feet away.**

**A blue light had appeared in the darkness: It grew larger and brighter, and Lupin and George appeared, spinning and then falling. **

**Harry knew immediately that there was something wrong: Lupin was supporting George, who was unconscious and whose face was covered in blood.**

Ron's face turned to stone. Ginny didn't say anything but she tensed. If anything happened to George, Fred would be devastated. It was a good thing that the twins weren't there.

**Harry ran forward and seized George's legs. Together, he and Lupin carried George into the house and through the kitchen to the living room, where they laid him on the sofa. As the lamplight fell across George's head, Ginny gasped and Harry's stomach lurched: One of George's ears was missing.**

**The side of his head and neck were drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood.**

**No sooner had Mrs. Weasley bent over her son that Lupin grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged him, none too gently, back into the kitchen, where Hagrid was still attempting to ease his bulk through the back door.**

**"Oi!" said Hagrid indignantly, "Le' go of him! Le' go of Harry!"**

**Lupin ignored him.**

**"**Moony." James said in a warning tone.

"It's Polyjuice potion. I have to check to see if it really is Harry." Remus explained calmly.

"But what about everybody else? Why aren't you checking them? What if they are imposters? Why do you automatically assume it is Harry?" There was depth to the questions. Anyone else listening in would have thought that it was just James being James, but his best friends could tell that the book was affecting James. It was changing him.

**"What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" he said, giving Harry a small shake. "Answer me!"**

**"A – a grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?"**

**Lupin released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard.**

**"Wha' was tha' about?" roared Hagrid.**

**"I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to check," said Lupin tersely. "We've been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been an impostor."**

**"So why aren' you checkin' me?" panted Hagrid, still struggling with the door.**

**"You're half-giant," said Lupin, looking up at Hagrid. "The Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use only."**

Harry and Ron laughed. Hermione looked annoyed.

"That was not fun. You shouldn't laugh." Hermione said, crossing her arms. Her outraged expression only made Harry and Ron laugh more. Unable to keep up the act, Hermione succumbed to laughter as well.

Ginny was upset. Once again she was left out of the loop.

**"None of the Order would have told Voldemort we were moving tonight," said Harry. The idea was dreadful to him, he could not believe it of any of them. **

**"Voldemort only caught up with me toward the end, he didn't know which one I was in the beginning. If he'd been in on the plan he'd have known from the start I was the one with Hagrid."**

**"Voldemort caught up with you?" said Lupin sharply. "What happened? How did you escape?"**

**Harry explained how the Death Eaters pursuing them had seemed to recognize him as the true Harry, how they had abandoned the chase, how they must have summoned Voldemort, who had appeared just before he and Hagrid had reached the sanctuary of Tonks's parents.**

**"They recognized you? But how? What had you done?"**

**"I . . ." Harry tried to remember; the whole journey seemed like a blur of panic and confusion. "I saw Stan Shunpike . . . . You know, the bloke who was the conductor on the Knight Bus? And I tried to Disarm him instead of – well, he doesn't know what he's doing, does he? He must be Imperiused!"**

**Lupin looked aghast.**

**"Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren't prepared to kill!"**

**"We were hundreds of feet up! Stan's not himself, and if I Stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd used Avada Kedavra!** **Expelliarmus saved me from Voldemort two years ago," Harry added defiantly. Lupin was reminding him of the sneering Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith, who had jeered at Harry for wanting to teach Dumbledore's Army how to Disarm.**

"Okay. Explanation time." Sirius said out loud, arm raised in the air. Molly obliged and stopped reading. "How does a disarming spell save you from being killed and what the hell is Dumbledore's Army?"

The four from the future looked over at Sirius. It was particularly painful for Harry. It reminded him of what Sirius had lost. When Harry had known him, Sirius was just sad and dead inside.

"Dumbledore's Army is a group where students learn defense against the Dark Arts." Harry replied.

"But there is already a class for that." Remus said.

"Yes, but we had a really awful teacher the year it was founded." Hermione chimed in.

"You haven't even mentioned the best part," Ron interrupted. "It was an illegal group and Harry here, he was our leader."

"Ron." Hermione hissed. "You don't just announce to everyone it was illegal."

"What can they really do?" Ginny said. Realizing there was nothing the authority figures could do, Hermione let it go.

"James, your kid is amazing." Sirius said quietly. James was proud at his son but also worried. A little louder Sirius said, "What about the other thing. The disarming spell and how it saved your life." Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny looked at each other. The Weasley's and Hermione weren't going to say anything. It wasn't their place. Swallowing hard, Harry replied.

"I'd rather not say anything."

"Why?" James asked. The haunted look in Harry's eyes was answer enough for James. Throughout this, Lily was anxious. She wanted nothing more than to give Harry a hug and tell him everything was going to be alright, but right now she and Harry were the same age and it would be beyond awkward for her and for Harry. Molly continued reading.

**"Yes, Harry," said Lupin with painful restraint, "and a great number of Death Eaters witnessed that happening! Forgive me, but it was a very unusual move then, under the imminent threat of death. Repeating it tonight in front of Death Eaters who either witnessed or heard about the first occasion was close to suicidal!"**

**"So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?" said Harry angrily.**

**"Of course not," said Lupin, "but the Death Eaters – frankly, most people! – would have expected you to attack back! Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and urge you not to let it become so!"**

**Lupin was making Harry feel idiotic, and yet there was still a grain of defiance inside him.**

Ron snorted. "Right. Just a small grain." He said sarcastically.

**"I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there," said Harry, "That's Voldemort's job."**

**Lupin's retort was lost: Finally succeeding in squeezing through the door, Hagrid staggered to a chair and sat down; it collapsed beneath him. Ignoring his mingled oaths and apologies, Harry addressed Lupin again.**

**"Will George be okay?"**

**All Lupin's frustration with Harry seemed to drain away at the question.**

**"I think so, although there's no chance of replacing his ear, not when it's been cursed off –"**

**There was a scuffling from outside. Lupin dived for the back door; Harry leapt over Hagrid's legs and sprinted into the yard.**

**Two figures had appeared in the yard, and as Harry ran toward them he realized they were Hermione, now returning to her normal appearance, and Kingsley, both clutching a bent coat hanger, Hermione flung herself into Harry's arms,**

Ron felt both relieved and jealous that Hermione was safe at the Burrow.

**but Kingsley showed no pleasure at the sight of any of them. Over Hermione's shoulder Harry saw him raise his wand and point it at Lupin's chest.**

**"The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us!"**

**"'Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,'" said Lupin calmly.**

Dumbledore's eyebrow rose at that. He looked quizzically down at Harry, wondering what it was that Voldemort wanted with the boy. All Voldemort wanted was to live forever in power, and…that's it. Harry was the only one able to defeat Voldemort.

**Kingsley turned his wand on Harry, but Lupin said, "It's him, I've checked!"**

**"All right, all right!" said Kingsley, stowing his wand back beneath his cloak, "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"**

**"So it seems," replied Lupin, "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harrys."**

**"Small comfort!" snarled Kingsley. "Who else is back?"**

**"Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me."**

**Hermione stifled a little moan behind her hand.**

"Worried, Hermione?" Harry teased. She blushed red at his words but nodded her head up and down.

**"What happened to you?" Lupin asked Kingsley.**

**"Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one," Kingsley reeled off, "and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quickly. Remus, he can –"**

**"Fly," supplied Harry. "I saw him too, he came after Hagrid and me."**

**"So that's why he left, to follow you!" said Kingsley, "I couldn't understand why he'd vanished. But what made him change targets?"**

**"Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike," said Lupin.**

**"Stan?" repeated Hermione. "But I thought he was in Azkaban?"**

**Kingsley let out a mirthless laugh.**

**"Hermione, there's obviously been a mass breakout which the Ministry has hushed up. Travers's hood fell off when I cursed him, he's supposed to be inside too. But what happened to you, Remus? Where's George?"**

**"He lost an ear," said Lupin.**

**"lost an - ?" repeated Hermione in a high voice.**

**"Snape's work," said Lupin.**

SEVERUS SNAPE!" Molly shrieked. "How dare you! How dare you!" This whole time Snape was listening quietly, taking in the information. People were getting into th"e book and they were forgetting who killed the headmaster. Now they remembered.

"I can NOT believe you would do this! I swear, I am going to-"She was cut off by Arthur gently pushing her back into her seat.

"It hasn't happened yet." He reminded her. "The future can always change."

"No!" Lily said vehemently. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop but they were sitting right by her. "If we act upon anything we hear in this book, then we could drastically change the future. Trust me," Her tone became a little darker. "As much as I want to change the future, I can't. Things have to happen."

**"Snape?" shouted Harry. "You didn't say –"**

**"He lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra was always a specialty of Snape's. I wish I could say I'd paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after he was injured, he was losing so much blood."**

"That was the spell I used on Malfoy." Harry said quietly.

"Then it's a good thing the book has been disposed of." Hermione said

**Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends. Where was Ron? Where were Fred and Mr. Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus?**

**"Harry, give us a hand!" called Hagrid hoarsely from the door, in which he was stuck again. Glad of something to do, Harry pulled him free, the headed through the empty kitchen and back into the sitting room, where Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were still tending to George. Mrs. Weasley had staunched his bleeding now, and by the lamplight Harry saw a clean gaping hole where George's ear had been.**

Ginny looked horrified at the thought. The wound didn't disgust her, it was the thought of her brother hurt.

**"How is he?"**

**Mrs. Weasley looked around and said, "I can't make it grow back, not when it's been removed by Dark Magic. But it could've been so much worse . . . . He's alive."**

**"Yeah," said Harry. "Thank God."**

**"Did I hear someone else in the yard?" Ginny asked.**

**"Hermione and Kingsley," said Harry.**

**"Thank goodness," Ginny whispered. They looked at each other; Harry wanted to hug her, hold on to her; he did not even care much that Mrs. Weasley was there, but before he could act on the impulse, there was a great crash from the kitchen.**

"Why won't you? Mum wouldn't care." Ginny said. Harry just shrugged, not voicing his intentions of breaking up with her.

**"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!"**

**Harry had never heard Mr. Weasley shout like that before. He burst into the living room, his bald patch gleaming with sweat, his spectacles askew, Fred right behind him, both pale but uninjured.**

"I didn't know you had it in you." James said to Arthur. Arthur shrugged.

"Yeah, well…what would you do?" He said, not realizing that James would soon have to defend himself.

**"Arthur!" sobbed Mrs. Weasley. "Oh thank goodness!"**

**"How is he?"**

**Mr. Weasley dropped to his knees beside George. For the first time since Harry had known him, Fred seemed to be lost for words. He gaped over the back of the sofa at his twin's wound as if he could not believe what he was seeing.**

**Perhaps roused by the sound of Fred and their father's arrival, George stirred.**

**"How do you feel, Georgie?" whispered Mrs. Weasley.**

**George's fingers groped for the side of his head.**

**"Saintlike," he murmured.**

**"What's wrong with him?" croaked Fred, looking terrified. "Is his mind affected?"**

**"Saintlike," repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. "You see. . . I'm holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?"**

Sirius started laughing. "These kids are great. We have to meet them sometime." Remus smiled wryly.

"Not the best time to say that." He said, motioning to James, who realized he would never meet them.

**Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever. Color flooded Fred's pale face.**

**"Pathetic," he told George. "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"**

**"Ah well," said George, grinning at his tear-soaked mother. "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum."**

**He looked around.**

**"Hi, Harry – you are Harry, right?"**

**"Yeah, I am," said Harry, moving closer to the sofa.**

**"Well, at least we got you back okay," said George. "Why aren't Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?"**

**"They're not back yet, George," said Mrs. Weasley. George's grin faded. Harry glanced at Ginny and motioned to her to accompany him back outside.**

Lily smiled. She saw the parallels to herself and Ginny. _Guess liking redheads runs in the family_ she thought.

**As they walked through the kitchen she said in a low voice.**

**"Ron and Tonks should be back by now. They didn't have a long journey; Auntie Muriel's not that far from here."**

**Harry said nothing. He had been trying to keep fear at bay ever since reaching the Burrow, but now it enveloped him, seeming to crawl over his skin, throbbing in his chest, clogging his throat. As they walked down the back steps into the dark yard, Ginny took his hand.**

Ginny smiled as Harry took her hand.

**Kingsley was striding backward and forward, glancing up at the sky every time he turned. Harry was reminded of Uncle Vernon pacing the living room a million years ago. Hagrid, Hermione, and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing upward in silence. None of them looked around when Harry and Ginny joined their silent vigil.**

**The minutes stretched into what might as well have been years. The slightest breath of wind made them all jump and turn toward the whispering bush or tree in the hope that one of the missing Order members might leap unscathed from its leaves –**

**And then a broom materialized directly above them and streaked toward the ground –**

**"It's them!" screamed Hermione.**

"Oh thank god." Ginny murmured. Hermione visibly looked relieved.

**Tonks landed in a long skid that sent earth and pebbles everywhere.**

**"Remus!" Tonks cried as she staggered off the broom into Lupin's arms.**

**His face was set and white: He seemed unable to speak, Ron tripped dazedly toward Harry and Hermione.**

**"You're okay," he mumbled, before Hermione flew at him and hugged him tightly.**

Ron looked away at the sentence. He didn't like hearing about himself and Hermione in this context. His attraction to her was easier to ignore when they were living everyday life, not hearing about it. And it wasn't that he didn't want to be with Hermione, it was that he was scared it would ruin the friendship they shared.

**"I thought – I thought –"**

**"'M all right," said Ron, patting her on the back. "'M fine."**

**"Ron was great," said Tonks warmly, relinquishing her hold on Lupin. "Wonderful. Stunned one of the Death Eaters, straight to the head, and when you're aiming at a moving target from a flying broom –"**

**"You did?" said Hermione, gazing up at Ron with her arms still around his neck.**

**"Always the tone of surprise," he said a little grumpily, breaking free. **

**"Are we the last back?"**

**"No," said Ginny, "we're still waiting for Bill and Fleur and Mad-Eye and Mundungus. I'm going to tell Mum and Dad you're okay, Ron –"**

**She ran back inside.**

**"So what kept you? What happened?" Lupin sounded almost angry at Tonks.**

**"Bellatrix," said Tonks. "She wants me quite as much as she wants Harry, Remus, She tried very hard to kill me. I just wish I'd got her, I owe Bellatrix."**

Tonks was angry. Bellatrix has caused her family a lot of grief and she was ready for her to be in her place.

**But we definitely injured Rodolphus . . . . Then we got to Ron's Auntie Muriel's and we missed our Portkey and she was fussing over us –"**

**A muscle was jumping in Lupin's jaw. He nodded, but seemed unable to say anything else.**

**"So what happened to you lot?" Tonks asked, turning to Harry, Hermione, and Kingsley.**

**They recounted the stories of their own journeys, but all the time the continued absence of Bill, Fleur, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus seemed to lie upon them like a frost, its icy bite harder and harder to ignore.**

**"I'm going to have to get back to Downing Street, I should have been there an hour ago," said Kingsley finally, after a last sweeping gaze at the sky. "Let me know when they're back,"**

**Lupin nodded. With a wave to the others, Kingsley walked away into the darkness toward the gate. Harry thought he heard the faintest pop as Kingsley Disapparated just beyond the Burrow's boundaries.**

**Mr. And Mrs. Weasley came racing down the back steps, Ginny behind them. Both parents hugged Ron before turning to Lupin and Tonks.**

Snape felt somewhat jealous of Ron. It was ridiculous of course, but there was just a small spark of jealousy. Ron had a loving and supportive family, something he had never had.

**"Thank you," said Mrs. Weasley, "for our sons."**

**"Don't be silly, Molly," said Tonks at once.**

**"How's George?" asked Lupin.**

**"What's wrong with him?" piped up Ron.**

**"He's lost –"**

**But the end of Mrs. Weasley's sentence was drowned in a general outcry. A thestral had just soared into sight and landed a few feet from them. Bill and Fleur slid from its back, windswept but unhurt.**

**"Bill! Thank God, thank God –"**

**Mrs. Weasley ran forward, but the hug Bill bestowed upon her was perfunctory. Looking directly at his father, he said, "Mad-Eye's dead."**

_**A/N: I'm going to go sit with my fingers covering my eyes because I am scared this chapter turned out like crap. Anyway, sorry if it was too fluffy in some areas and too angry in others. I was just in one of those moods I think when I wrote this. **_

_**And I have a question for my British friends who read this: What is your viewpoint of the American Revolution? I have been trying to get someone to tell me but no one has told me anything.  
**_

_**P.S. I have a chance to go overseas this summer! I am so excited. **_


End file.
